Road to Rain Progress

It's been awhile since I had posted a progress picture of my 'Road to Rain' painting. That's because number one, I was waiting on some more white oil paint (I didn't realize how quickly I would go through that one...but now I have a huge tube to last me a long time, or maybe at least a month). As well, I was on a watercolor painting binge...both commissions and autumn-themed pieces for my store.

Well, since my last post. I have added hydro poles - not sure if I like them though. I've been pondering them before I add the lines. Although really, it might be the lines that make them look at lot better. I've also added more yellows. I'm not sure about the ditch that runs along the hydro poles, but I'm 99.9% sure that it's working and that I like it.

My fellow artists, I'm sure you'll agree - it's so hard to be completely happy. And even when you are, the next time you look at it you see something else that you would like to change.

The remaining to-do's: hydro lines, fix that last poles (it's a little thick looking), adjust the colouring of the poles, add more colour to the lighter green field (it looks a little too transparent on the canvas)...not much, right?....

White Flowers Meadow

This is just a quick oil painting that I did. It has a lot of texture in it. I think that I should have made the tree line have more impressionism to it, since it seems a little out of place. But this was just a quick study painting :)

It is available for sale on Etsy, here.

Road to Rain progress

So I gave up on the 'dirt road' concept, and it is now a paved road. Which looks just as good. I think the gravel road would have been too warm of a colour, and the paved grey seems to work better with the sky, since it's a lot cooler.

So all that's left is the hydro poles / lines and touch-ups (nothing specific right now, just whatever I think might need a little adjustment as I look at it longer).

Eeee, almost done my first 'great' piece!!!

Road to Rain Progress

The landscape is going much better than I had anticipated! Hurray!


But I discovered a new nemesis: the road. I have absolutely never done a road before. And, as easy as it seems, it's not. Here I'm trying to make it into a 'dirt road', but the two tracks just make the road look odd. Common, let's all admit: this road is horrible!

So, I'm turning it into a paved road. I think the gray pavement will look better with the hues in the sky as well. The brown is just so out of place.

I'm having trouble making the road not look so flat. I will look up some techniques and try again once it dries a little.

What's left: some yellow on the roadside, hydro poles (possibly another nemesis), and correction of the road. I'm getting there! I think it's been 12 hours invested into this piece so far, so it's going quite well!

Painter's Shirt

Every (messy) artist needs a smock. Mine is an old dress shirt from my youngest brother.

Unfortunately, a couple of my better shirts and a pair of pants met their demise before I acquired this shirt. Well, better late than never!

You can't see the quite large amount of the paint that has already been deposited on the shirt - it's mostly at the bottom near my lap. Maybe in a couple month's I'll just photograph the shirt.

Road to Rain Progress

So I have come up with a name for this piece, "Road to Rain". I think I'm pretty sold on it, but if it changes, you will all be the first to know!

Here are some more progress shots:


I was scared to start the actual scenery. All my 'failed' paintings were going good with the sky, and then plummeted when I started the landscape portion. But the scenery is going okay, so far...

Dirty Fingers

I don't think my hands have been as dirty when I painted with my acrylics and watercolors - I actually don't think my hands are ever dirty with the watercolor.

I know I should be more careful, but I just get so into the painting and sometimes even use my fingers for a smuge here and there. I know good enough not to eat until this mess is all cleaned up. But it's sort of like a by-product work of art lol. I've been having to paint my nails all the time too - in order to hide the paint that I can't get out from under my nails so it doesn't look to dirty lol.

This paint takes some scrubbing to get off...