Saturday, January 9, 2010

The Road Home - painting #2

The Road Home
oil on canvas
6 x 8 inches
©Ann Thompson Nemcosky
For purchase information click here

Number two in my 100 Painting project for 2010. This scene is the road that leads to my house, early one autumn morning. I have sketched this image before but was never quite able to achieve what I intended. I believe I came much closer with this oil painting.
Here I thought I'd share a little of my process. Instead of painting on the white gesso of the canvas, I first give it a thin coat of acrylic to make the painting ground a color. After the acrylic ground has dried I then complete the painting in oil. I like how the color of the ground helps tie the colors of the painting together, even though it is hardly able to be seen in the end, sometimes not at all, after the image has been painted. It still provides a little influence to the character of the finished painting. I don't do this all the time. Sometimes I paint directly on the white canvas. But I usually enjoy the process of painting more when I have taken this first step. The colors that I choose to cover the white gesso are somewhat arbiturary. I will be thinking of an image or two that I may like to paint and decide whether I want warm, bright, or nuetral for the color of the ground. I mix up a color in acrylic and cover one canvas, then alter it a bit and do another, continuing this way until I have covered four or five canvases. The painting above was done on the lower right canvas in this picture.

12 comments:

nanke's stuff said...

Just like your first painting, this one is lovely. The colors are so pretty, and your brush strokes add wonderful texture. I also enjoyed reading a bit about your process. nancy

Leslie Hawes said...

I like working on a colored ground.
This is a keepsake painting. Should hang in your own house.

martinepittet said...

Another beautiful painting ! I love the soft and warm colours !

donna said...

I can tell I am going to enjoy this series a great deal. You are off to a wonderful start.

Patty Ruthe said...

Thanks for sharing a part of the process! Lovely winding road. I like the textures and colors.

Krista Meister said...

Such a lively, colorful painting, Ann! Love the yellows on the left. Here's to your continued goal of 100 paintings!

Jennifer Rose said...

really nice painting :D nice fall colours and i can imagine someone coming down the road.
I find it a lot easier to draw on a coloured background, helps a lot with the tonal values

Creatively Lisa said...

Beautiful. You did a great job with the perspective. A skill I still need to work on quite a bit.

Anonymous said...

Another lovely piece. :)

Unknown said...

Lovely painting and thanks so much for showing some of your process! I am liking these so much that I'm really considering pulling out my water-soluable oils and giving it try. Do they take a long time to dry?

Ann said...

Thanks all!
Raena - I emailed you...

Karen said...

A lovely painting. Thank you for sharing your method. The colored ground really does tie things together. Love the resulting painting.

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