Monday, August 5, 2013

A Quiet Night Scene Painting--"November Moon"

     
     For a change from local North Florida locations, I tried this night scene, somewhere in Midwestern rolling hills in November before snow has fallen. There were spots like this near the western Michigan city where I grew up, but the scene is not specific to a certain place. Sorry the photo is a bit blurred, but my clearer ones were not at all true to the colors in the piece.
     "November Moon" was inspired by my favorite PBS painting show with instructor Jerry Yarnell. Yarnell paints beautifully in acrylics and provides detailed, extremely helpful step-by-step instruction for well-developed paintings, each completed over several episodes. I learn more from Yarnell's approach and techniques than from the quick, done-in-one-show paintings on some other shows (although one of them was the source of my original feeling a few years ago that, "Maybe I could paint"). 
     I don't ever copy a painting by another painter, and in this case, simply adapted the background of Yarnell's piece with my own trees, road, house, and other details. I tried the hues in his palette which differ from combinations I've used before, but blended them my own way. After his introductory session I was not able to see the subsequent episodes (fortunately I think), so went off in my own direction. He completed his version with a twisted dead tree and some geese in flight (not a house, pine tree, or road).
     The work went fairly quickly and was fun to create. A close-up detail (the colors are not as light as they look in the close-up photo) shows the cozy house on a country lane one November night (As always, click on any photo for a larger view).
Question of the day: Are you also fans of Public TV and Radio and their affiliates (like the Create channel).?

7 comments:

  1. The Create channel? I've not heard of it before. I've always liked PBS though. My daughters grew up on Sesame Street. I love this night scene and it seems very different from your usual work. Absolutely wonderful composition and I find myself wishing I lived in that house.

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  2. Hi Mary - it's been a while since I visited and it has been a pleasure catching up this morning. NOVEMBER MOON is lovely - you are presenting an evening of peace and solitude while showing us an inviting place. Lots of depth and your trees are wonderful. For years I recorded the shows of Jerry Yarnell - ( The Inspiration of Painting and Jerry Yarnell Fine Art Studio) on VHS tape - now transferred to DVD. I never tire of popping one in and having Jerry talk to me while I paint. I would never have fallen in love with acrylics were it not for Jerry's showing us how to make them work. "Don't piddle, play or putter" is firmly embedded in my art brain! My finished pieces are most often in oil but the underpaintings are usually in acrylic.

    Your SUMMER CLOUDS is a beautiful piece also - I can feel the heat walking down that path. Great job!

    It seems keeping my blog posts going has taken a back burner but I shall try to do better

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  3. Very nice painting. I like the moody feeling of it. And as for PBS, if it were not for my 2008 snowboarding accident that left me recovering on the couch for four months with nothing to do but watch Bob Ross on tv, I would not have become an artist, so yes, I am a fan! And very thankful for discovering painting this way. "I believe, I believe... every day's a good day when you paint!"
    Aloha Mary!

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  4. Why, Sherry, I'd love to have you move into this house :-) ! Thank you for your interest. Yes, this piece felt different to me, too--and, for some reason, went more quickly than many others. I would definitely have guessed you to be a PBS fan given your wide-ranging curiosity and creativity.

    What lovely, encouraging comments, Rosemary! Thank you very much for being so specific about this painting. Interesting to hear from another Jerry Yarnell fan, too (although I have to confess that I still piddle and putter sometimes). Glad you liked "Summer Clouds" as well. It's great to hear from you!

    Aloha LIsa! Wow, we just returned from a couple of weeks away, and I have delightful comments from three delightful fellow artists. I also started painting partly because Bob Ross made it look doable--although I got some dreadful results trying to follow his techniques until I realized he was painting in oil and that acrylics dry much too quickly to use his way. Yes, I was totally ignorant at first and learned from many many mistakes. I'm glad you like this painting.

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  5. beautiful painting! beautiful night sky!

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  6. Thank you so very much, Peintures! It is super to hear from you.

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  7. Your " November Moon" is so lovely ..You have captured the evening hue perfectly ... It's a very good practise to be inspired by others, whether on PBS or in a class room or online ...as an artists you never know where or with whom your next masterpiece might be hiding... Beautiful work Mary !!!

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