November 2011 - Page 2 of 2 - 100 Paintings by Adam

Barn II

November 15, 2011

The second one is obviously a lot tighter. I wanted to see what was there if I made it super tight. Sketched it first and then painted it only using Burnt Umber. I’ve decided to paint the first few of these in the sepia tone to work out some of the kinks with the values before tackling the color.

Barn I

November 15, 2011

For this next set of paintings I’m going to be doing a few of the same barn that was featured in No. 100 from last year. It’s right by our house and I’ve been able to see it at all different times of day, grab some photos, etc.

For this first one I was trying an experiment. Think of this one as a benchmark. I had sketched it a few times to block out a rough composition but I wanted to paint it raw, loose and from memory. With the trees, I got so into the pattern of how to paint them that I forgot what it was like to see them for the first time. This is a mess but I think there are some good things here that I will need later.

Trees XVIII

November 13, 2011

Alright… at long last, the final tree painting. I had done that whole run where the sky was pink or yellow and the background trees were really blue and wanted to try one last one that was different. I decided to go back to more of the greens and close on that. I really love this one and wish I had paid more attention to the dirt area. Otherwise it’s exactly what I wanted to paint. It only took doing it 18 times…

I’ll start with something new on Monday. Promise.

Trees XVII

November 12, 2011

At this point what is there left to say about these trees? I am tired of them, you are probably tired of them. I think my dog is tired of them. Still learning but I am ready to move on.

Trees XVI

November 11, 2011

Winding down on the trees finally. Have a few more to go but I am starting to get to the end of the line here in terms of what I can learn from these guys. Overall I was really happy with this one. I love the background trees and doing the was just a revelation for me. I’ve seen stuff like that in books forever but to really bear down and work on the atmosphere was so fun. The fore-ground trees are so-so but these are so much better than the first few.

Trees XV

November 10, 2011

I could not leave the blue thing alone. It felt like maybe what was wrong with 149 was that EVERYTHING was blue and that if I dialed it back that maybe it would work. And it sort-of works but it not what I have in my head. There are a lot of good elements in this one and a lot of weird elements. But that is what this whole process is about.

Trees XIV

November 9, 2011

Well I am finally to No. 50 for the year. That took long enough. There are only 53 days left in the year (I think) but I feel pretty good about hitting the goal. That may seem crazy when it’s taken this long to get to 50 but these trees have taught me a lot about how to approach and then hit a subject. We’ll see…

So, with this one – I feel pretty good about it. The colors feel right – maybe a little too pink but overall this is what I was wanting. The tops of the trees are not really singing but it’s close. Getting better at least.

Trees XIII

November 8, 2011

No. 149 is obviously a little weird because the trees are blue. For some reason I got to thinking that maybe I had it all wrong and that the trees should not be brown or dark. I literally woke up one morning thinking about how the trees should be blue. But alas, I don’t think it really works. Theoretically it could work and could be awesome but the trees should be a little further back. These guys are too close to be that blue.

I think this was the first one too where I painted the background first. So all the trees in the background were painted, I let it dry and then I went back over it.

Trees XII

November 8, 2011

Here is the twelfth version of the trees – No. 148. I actually like this one quite a bit and much more than the last few. I was trying for a very high key but also ochre background with the far trees and this time it seemed to work.

100 Paintings by Adam

Month: November 2011