So as i indicated in my last post, i’ve been wanting to play around with painting in a more impressionistic fashion — at least for this experiment. That would mean painting in a much looser manner than is usually the case for me. Also would mean experimenting with different brush strokes; at times different brushes; and working with thicker paint. The original reference is shown in my last post. I didn’t want to try to copy that in an exact fashion, but i love the colors, and wanted to try to replicate some of them. Had a good time with all of this, although i had to force myself to not go after too many details!

I used bristle brushes instead of my usual synthetics. Also had to pay attention and use much thicker paint than i usually do, as that was required in order to “get” some of the brush strokes.

Most artists i know struggle with when to say enough is enough, because there is always more to do. Nevertheless, sometimes it’s clear that if you persist, you get into the land of diminished returns. That’s where i am with this painting. I’m pleased with much about the way it’s come together. But some parts — namely those trees (!) just don’t fully cooperate. So i’m going to give the whole thing a break. I’m going to make it a priority that over the next few months i will study how to improve my painting of trees.

What i worked on the past couple of days was: (1) the snow/sun reflections on the mountain tops — toning down that yellow; and (2) tried to make some of those trees in the front row have more of a sense of depth.

Meanwhile, i’m switching gears for my next project. I want to try doing something that is much more impressionistic than usual. I found an artist on one of my painting Facebook groups whose work i really like. I”m going to copy one of her (pastel) paintings to try to get a feel for how she does what she does. This is kosher protocol — copying — as long as i don’t attempt to sell my work without permission.

I was away for a couple of weeks, so just got back to this painting over the last week. The break was helpful, as at the end of it i and when i returned to the painting, i could see a number of things that needed work. So — repainted the trees. Re-did the shadow in the meadow. Did quite a bit of work on the mountain faces to try to give them more depth. Changed the shrubbery on the right side of the painting as it looked too left-brainish—-i.e., too regular – looked like two rows parallel to each other. I also added a few spots of light yellow to the tops of some of the grasses to suggest wildflowers.