Work In Progress.....Part 4, the conclusion

Well, the piece is finally finished. Not much more was done to it today other than the addition of some yellow ochre and a little highlighting with organge. I'm very happy with it and glad that I finally got around to completing the piece. It will probably be a while before I endeavor to use oils again as I usually like to work at a much faster pace, but I've enjoyed the experience.

I've also settled on a title for the piece, "Brilliant Autumn" and will be listing it in my shop on Etsy once the paint has completely dried through. Hopefully it won't take too long, however realistically will take about a week as I was a little heavy with the paint.

Thank you for following and I look forward to trying this "blog as I go" approach with my next piece.

Update on Work In Progress

Hello everyone!

Just a quick post to update everyone on my recent piece. I haven't forgotten, but unfortunately it's been shelved until next week....possibly as early as this Sunday due to a Halloween gathering I'm preparing for Saturday.

Rest assured it has not been forgotten and I look forward to resuming work on it as soon as possible. Thanks again for following along.

Work In Progress part 3

Today I feel rather productive. This morning I went out for some fall fun with my two kids and had a blast making leaf piles and then destroying them. Yeah, leaves make great mulch and act as nature's compost.....but who can resist raking them up and then immediately jumping in???? Well, we couldn't and as a result the motivation to start working on my latest painting was renewed.

Today I managed to get a lot done and had a hard time putting the brush down. I've completed all I can for now though and will have to wait for this layer of paint to dry before moving on to lighter leaves. As always, the slow drying time of the oil paints can be a bit of a bother forcing me to leave longer amounts of time between sittings than I would like, but it's paying off and I can honestly say that I'm happy with the progress. Believe it or not, the initial blocked in orange of the leaves is still a little wet!

Work In Progress part 2

Well tonight I attempted to continue work on my fall foliage piece.......and I am now completely reminded as to why I am not fond of oil paints as a medium. People who know me can confirm that patience is not really one of my strong suits and oil painting is definitely something that requires patience. With watercolours and acrylics the process is much for final and you have to work quickly. Oils are very forgiving and will stay wet for days at a time. They blend beautifully and their colours are so very vibrant.

Last night I was unable to work on the piece as the blocked in foliage and the sky were still very wet and any brush strokes I made were blending the surroundings in. So, I shelved it thinking I could pick it up tonight and continue on with little difficulty.

I was wrong. Although I was wrong though I did manage to get the trunk and thicker branches blocked in and some shading worked into the trunk. While I'm getting frustrated at how little I was able to accomplish I am satisfied with what was laid onto the canvas. I will have to adapt my thinking on this piece and the speed I was hoping to finish it....if not anything else it will be a lesson for myself.....and one I am looking forward to seeing through until this painting's completion. Once the sky and leaves completely dry I will go back in to paint in the finer branches.