Dugualla Flats9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix
Miki Willa
I know the title of this posting won't get any hits, but I wasn't sure what else to call it. Besides, it took me quite a while to find the name of this place, so decided to use it.
This is a wonderful flat meadow between the main north/south highway on Whidbey Island and Dugualla Bay in the Puget Sound. The white mountain in the background is Mt. Baker. It is done from a reference taken in early spring several years ago. The photo was taken in the morning, thus the long shadows.
I did this painting as a demonstration on using a complimentary underpainting. I put orange under the green field, red under the distant tree covered hill, and dark purple/blue under the water. I did a blue underpainting on the sky because I have not been successful with complements under the sky yet. I used soft pastels and blended them with turpenoid (the stuff in the blue can, not the green one). I put the grazing cows in the far part of the field to give a sense of distance between me, the tree, and the water. I really liked this place. We had fun sketching there from the cab of the truck. As I recall, it was a cold, very early spring morning.
3 comments:
This landscape put me right there.
Do you like using the complimentary underpainting?
I find that the more I use the underpaintings, the more I like them. The complimentary is the one I have used the most, but there are others I want to explore.
I haven't checked this site for a while, and I have to say I really really like the work you are doing - maybe it is the familiar scenes, but I think your style is complementary to the Northwest colors and scenery. Wow.
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