Monday, March 4, 2019

Painting the Winter Forest

Winter Forest, gouache, 5 x 8 inches
I hiked into the snowy forest to paint this little gouache study.



In the video is a little glimpse behind the scenes (Link to YT Video).
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11 comments:

  1. Wonderful piece.

    Do you consider yourself a master at this point? It would be hard to argue that you aren't I think.

    Also, does Smooth live with you now? =)

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  2. No, every painting is a dive into the unknown. We babysit Smooth a lot because our son lives nearby.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Unknown, that's something that has always puzzled me. I try to paint the colors I see, and when I get back and look at photos of the scene, the camera seems to miss it all. I'm not consciously amping it up, but I guess the camera just misses the subtle warm and cools.

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  5. That was a faster reply than I expected, sorry for deleting the original comment, I didn't wanna just be "Unknown".
    Original comment:
    Beautiful, you painted relatively so little detail but there's still amazing depth and realism just because of the colors and contrast. It also seems like you painted the scene quite a bit warmer and brighter, was that a conscious decision or does the camera just not show the scene like your eye did?

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  6. I always notice that your choice of colors makes any scene look much more alive than it would in real life, it amazes me to no end when you make a painting of something like a car park. I think because you are so experienced you choose the colors to bring a scene to life without thinking about it and that's why you don't see the same effect in the photos (in combination with the elements the camera simply misses of course). I've only been painting for a year and often have trouble translating the colors I see into the ones I paint. I think I'm slowly getting better though, and I'm learning so much from your book

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  7. I’m guessing we have Jeanette to thank for the hat. If so, outstanding! Was very surprised to see the snake. It appears to be the Common Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon). My field guide says, “If grabbed, they savagely bite the aggressor.” Not surprising a snake willing to emerge in snow would have an attitude.

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  8. Smooth looks pretty happy with the puppy-sitting arrangement. The area at the park looks wonderful and I love the cool purple look in the water, and the reddish browns of the trees.

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  9. You make it look so easy ....
    Like "RozendaalAstrolabes" above, I am often amazed by your colour sense and how,
    for instance, a background colour I would never have imagined adds to the final image.
    So much to learn, and your videos provide so much helpful material. Thanks.

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  10. Master Gurney

    Now is offical:

    If Smooth don't appear on the video I won't watch it .

    Paulo - Rio

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  11. James, how do you keep your hands warm? If it's under 45 degrees, my fingertips get cold after 10-15 minutes. Yet you were out there for around an hour. What's your secret?

    Thanks for a wonderful video!

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