After much deliberation, this is my very rough sketch of my next circle painting. It is going to be a very complicated look upwards at a yellow tree. There are going to be many layers of branches and leaves so this will be a true challenge. Stay tuned to see if I pull it off! :)
And the painting begins. (It was 48 degrees in my studio and my fingers went a bit numb. Plus the paint would barely move. So I only painted a little while today.)
I added more white clouds to the sky. It is still really cold in my studio so I gave up pretty quickly.
I started working on the rocks today. So far so good.
I added more contrast to the rocks today. Some darker brown in the cracks... and I added more colors on the rocks on the left.
I added more white to the clouds. This thing is taking forever to dry so it is hard to get it as white as I want the clouds to be. I also started painting the tree though it was a little painful because I really liked that rock on the right side. Oh well... goodbye.
I added more branches but I am still having trouble with the clouds not drying. Maybe it's the cooler air?? I'm not sure...
I started adding a few leaves today. Many many more to go!
I started adding some more branches since the white part is finally dry.
Today I added a bunch more branches. It sort of looks like lightning or shattered glass... very cool. More branches to come.
More branches... I am trying to even include the tiny ones. Trees sure are complicated!
More leaves...
More leaves...
Even more leaves... thinking about those insane Pointillists today.
More leaves and I made parts of the trunk a deep purple to make the yellow leaves pop more. (Yellow and purple are complimentary colors.)
I started to show some light on the branches. A bit too pink there I think though.
I changed the pink part of the branch to a more yellowy tan.
More work on the color of the dark parts of the tree.
More yellow leaves and a few new branches in the middle.
More leaves.
More leaves.
Changed the color of light hitting the bark on the right main trunk of the tree.
I added some light reddish browns to the main trunk to show more depth and texture. Also to make it appear closer to the viewer.
More work on the trunk and more yellow highlights added. Almost done... surely...
SO I decided that after all of the hullabaloo I want the trunk to appear more flat, like stained glass instead of fading from flat to dimensional. As a result I went with a solid really dark purpley reddish black brown for the trunk. And I like it a lot better now. I am waiting for Saturday when I have daylight painting time to make the final decision as to whether it is in fact finished...
I am finally finished with my first painting of 2010! It took a lot longer than I was expecting.
