Coastal North Florida Water View Painting, "Summer Reflections"

"Summer Reflections"

     "Summer Reflections" stands on our fireplace mantel for consideration over the next week or so. Will there be any more minor adjustments to the scene? That remains to be seen.

Today's photos show a newly painted piece of a creek scene near our neighborhood, a couple of detail close-ups, and one of the original reference photos. From the reference photo, you can see that I brightened the colors considerably (while trying not to go overboard with that) and cleared out a lot of North Florida's exuberant, messy-looking growth. As always, you can click on a photo to enlarge it.

A detail from the painting

A detail from the painting

     The painting is on a 2" deep 18" x 24" gallery wrap canvas with the scene continued onto all the sides so that it can be hung with or without a frame. The palette, in acrylic paints, includes ultramarine blue, phthalo blue, dioxazine purple, sap green, naphthol crimson, yellow ochre, Naples yellow, burnt sienna, Payne's grey, and titanium white. 

     For a change, I toned the canvas with a pale burnt sienna tone. Then, after painting the sky in roughly as you see it, I established a fairly dark under painting for the rest. In acrylic paintings, we often work from darks to lights because even light colors (especially when mixed with an opaque white) cover well. Next, the sky was modified and a few clouds added. The far trees were next in muted bluish tones, requiring several milky glazes to get the right hazy appearance of distance. I cut loose on the creek, laying in quick, slightly curved horizontal strokes in a variety of colors and blends. I meant that to be an under painting for the water, but much of it stayed because of the vibrant feel of movement the strokes provided. 

One of several reference photos for this piece

     Most areas of the painting required gradual buildup in layers as lighter and lighter tones were added to the darker under painting. I can't tell you how often during the process my husband asked if the painting would stay so dark, but finally, the gradual, subtle differentiation of tones and colors and layered highlighting led to the version you see today. I exaggerated the differing shades of the foliage; one of the most difficult tasks for a Florida landscape artist can be creating an interesting interpretation of tangled green, green, and more green. This one may be about finished; we'll see what several more days of living with it brings. 

Question of the day: Are you also drawn to scenes with natural water features?