Painting

September 12, 2004

I've finished the next painting. Actually, it was almost done a week ago, but I've been busy, so it's been sitting. Here it is:

I didn't even realize it until I scanned and cropped the image, but the church tower does indeed lean slightly to the right. Maybe I should stick to cows... Anyway, I'm generally pleased with this piece. I tried some different techniques for the foliage and am most happy with theones directly behind the church. Using a full range of values from the light yellows to the dark greens really gives the amorphous foliage some shape and contrast, as real plant matter does. The shadows of the far trees and post work well. The picture becomes more boring and less distinct toward the distance, but that is precisely as it should be. I wish I could even wash it out a little more, but I have no white... My main disappointment is with the sky which is a little more blue before scanning, but not much. I wanted a feeling of brightness, but it ends up just looking white. This church, by the way, lies in Bavaria, southwest of where I live. I discovered it on a bike trip to Bad Tölz last fall, almost exactly a year ago.