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Summer Progression

It's nearly the official end of summer here in the United States (Labor Day, September 3rd), and I've been looking back over the photos I've taken in my studio in the last three months. Here is a small oil painting (24" x 18") that I started at the beginning of June:


A month later, after getting rid of that brown mountain and adding brambly-looking bushes, it looked like this:


A few weeks later, the main areas of the painting were in place, and I was just working up the different areas with more paint, smeared or dabbed on the canvas with cotton rags:


The next photo has lots more dark passages to increase the sens of depth and to make the lighter areas stand out:


In the final session I lightened that pink cast in the sky, and added a few final highlights in silvery-white paint:


The wonderful thing about oil paint is that you can make substantial changes to a picture in a way that doesn't stand out by the time you say you're finished with it, unlike acrylic painting, when previous layers can often show through the final ones. 

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