Another Bridge, Another Painting

Sparta has the coolest bridges for walking and biking. This one is over the LaCrosse River in the Park at the corner of highways 16 and 21, with the giant bicyclist, “Ben Bikin”.

Bike Bridge over the LaCrosse River, 9x12 in., pastel on uArt 600 grit

I did a sketch and took photos when I did this painting, done en plein air (in the outdoors) just a bit upriver of the bridge – Rushing Water on the LaCrosse River, 9x12, etc… 

There are 2 covered bridges in the network, and 2 like this with plans for more. I have like how they looked since each was built, but I never realized how heavily traveled they are until I painted plein air in the partk this summer. Kids and adults, on foot or bikes as well as strollers, abound in the parks and on the bridges. Kids stop to toss rocks, families wade in the water underneath them, people fish nearby. The waterways that flow through Sparta – the LaCrosse River and Beaver Creek – bring sparkle and music to our little city.

Rework, kinda like Reruns…

Since the July challenge ended I have reworked several of the one-day paintings. I also played with some handmade pastels, but that’s another blog…  Anyway, a major lesson for me confirms what I suspected: while I am capable of creating a complete and decent painting in a single day, my work benefits from thoughtful scrutiny which usually results in rework, ranging from major to minor. Here are the 4 paintings I reworked – “befores”, then “afters”.

Barn in the Valley

There is quite a difference in photo exposure, but the new (after, right) photo is also more accurate. Changes were made mainly to the bare tree behind the barn.

Round Barn and Shed in Autumn

Clarified shadows, redid sky color and texture, other minor changes. The color is a bit off in both, but more in the “before” which was taken in artificial yellow light.

Almost Home

Softened and corrected shadows, added highlights.

Farm in the Valley

On this painting, I deepened and corrected shadows, made the sky less uniform, pushed the background by cooling the colors, added warmer tones to the foreground.

I am pretty happy with all 4 of these now. What do you think?

July 31st, 2013 – Last Challenge Painting!

… but of course that doesn’t mean I am done painting!

This is not quite finished, and the photo is funky, but this is as done as it is going to be today… since it is now actually tomorrow. I really need to go to bed. But first I proclaim that I am quite proud of myself for completing 31 paintings in 31 days, many of them quite good.

“Farm in the Valley”, 16 by 20 inches on Canson board.

Here is the underpainting for this piece:

Goodnight and sweet dreams. Tomorrow is another day.