Painting Month: Days 19-20 Recap

For day 19, it was gloomy/rainy out and I decided to make it a studio day. I realized that the fast pace required to deal with changing light conditions was making it hard to work on areas I wanted to improve. While I was having a blast painting outside, I felt I could really benefit from moving a bit slower and focusing in the studio.

Distant Storm in Inverness painting

A few months ago while on a hike in Inverness, CA, I took a photo to use as a possible reference for a painting. Upon looking at it again, I felt inspired to make a go of it:

Reference photo: a lagoon bordered by green coastal scrub and dry grass, with golden hills and a small white farmhouse in the distance under a cloudy sky.

What drew me to this photo was the symphony of greens in the foreground contrasted by the muted tones in the distance. I also really liked the suggestion of rain or a small storm in the distance.

I started by laying in the foreground bushes since those would have some vibrant greens and high contrast that I could use to compare the other parts of my painting. Then I added in the lightest lights – the water and the sky:

The painting at an early stage, propped on a wooden easel in the garage: just a warm sky, a pale band of water, and a single olive-green shape for the hills.

It is still a work in progress but I really like how it’s coming together so far:

The painting further along: layered purple and gold hills with a tiny white building, pale water, dark green scrub, and textured golden grasses up front.