03/23/2018
"Golden Days" oil on linen 18"x24" (If we are going to have golden years, we must have golden days, to have golden days we must give each day value!)
I usually start with a toned canvas, then do the drawing with a darker color like burnt sienna or burnt umber and highlights with white added to terra cotta, all the colors thinned down with turpentine so the paint will dry quickly and so it is more fluid for drawing. Then when the drawing is dry I begin painting in the darkest colors (tree trunks) in the background, then I add the underlying colors and tones of the underbrush and leaves, softening all the lines and shapes of the back ground. Then leaving the background to dry, I rough in all the rest of the painting so I can get a feel for how the painting is going to go, the interplay of the colors, what needs to be softened, what needs to accented etc. Then I work and refine the detail of the main object of focus, the horse and rider, trying to define the mass, the muscle, the movement of the horse, and capture the attitude of the rider. With the main subject close to done, and the rest of the canvas mostly covered and dry, I can go in and start putting in all the dramatic highlights,... because the underlaying paint is all dry, the highlights can take on a real sparkle, and dazzling look. Some paintings end up being a real challenge, and a person ends up having to solve one problem area after another, painting and repainting, but this backlit scene ended up being one of those straight forward paintings that seemingly painted its self!!
