After three days in bed with the flu, I’ve made it back to the studio for a couple of hours, where I’ve been painting in short bursts, alternated with sitting down and resting with some ginseng green tea, which is becoming a studio necessity. Working despite feeling crappy has been worth it to get the painting through its last steps, but it’s pretty hard going.
All the foliage is now green, using Sap Green with a bit of Iron Oxide to brown the edges of the leaves, and some deep shadows around them painted with Van Dyke Brown. I’ve added a soft layer of acacia leaves to the leaves high in the painting, giving them more mass at the same time as making them blend back a little. The blue forget-me-nots now have little yellow centers, and I worked the foliage around them to make them sit amongst the leaves rather than floating on top of them.
I’m down to needing about twenty minutes of painting needed to make the painting complete, but can’t do it until the foliage is dry. I simply to need to put a soft glaze of white over the cliff edge, medium distance, so that the plants and rocks fade back a little from the closer pathway, daisies and grass. I also want to make the sea a little darker and perhaps a touch bluer.
Tomorrow I will post a photo of the completed painting. (Actually I can imagine finding myself adding another layer of roses to the right and left sides to provide them with another layer of depth.)
I love California in the Spring. As I write this I’m looking out over a landscape lit in golden light, with trees glowing yellow green, spring flowers in pinks and whites, and red leaves pushing their way out as emerging new growth.
