I finished up the fall session of my painting class with one more painting, a beach scene. It was based on a photo that was dominated by the mass of dune grass on the right, and the fence across the bottom. I didn't like the composition much, and I changed it a bit, but I could have changed it more. After I had done most of the grass, Ron commented that it was a bit too uniform. I tried to vary it, but with the dark shadows already in place, I couldn't do very much. But I like how the colors came out, and overall I think it is pretty good.
One afternoon a week or so ago, Maureen and Cherry were going to ride our horses, and I went along to help with the work, but mostly just to sit and watch them ride. It was nearly sunset and the view of the bay beyond the arena was really beautiful with warm colors and low-angle lighting. I thought that it might be fun to try to paint, so I took a few photos with my iPhone. I knew that the colors would probably not show up correctly, but at least I would have the outlines of the scene to follow. I chose one of Cherry on Rio to paint. When the sun hits Rio a certain way, his reddish coat really glows. That's what I wanted to show in my painting. I always seem to have trouble with large areas of dark painting like the foreground here, which I wanted to be smoother and darker and not so muddy. If I had started out with my first wash much darker and not so wet, it would have turned out much better.
