Thursday, March 29, 2012

We are but scarecrows... pt 2.

Beginning the under-painting

Too big? How could ol' Bessy be too big?

The first bit of color and a new angle on the scarecrow-Christ figure

Dynamic strokes increase the sense of movement in the picture



The addition of gold hues creates the beginnings of the sunlight transition range



The pigments must be worked in such a way that will allow transition, but not muddiness
At this stage, it's mud-city

Low-lights are the key to solid contrast
The sunrise wouldn't be as bright without a transition to darker areas

Creating the under-painting of the fore, middle, and background of the cornfield
Continuing to work the transition between orange and light blue

Add lighter streaks into the darker sky for contrast

Finished under-painting


As the under-painting is complete, the next task will be to re-assess the scale of the scarecrow-Christ figure. He is too prominent in the plane and needs to be pushed further into the background. It needs to seem as if he is wadding through the corn, or is just barely suspended over the corn. Once the under-painting dries, back to work.










Wednesday, March 28, 2012

We are but scarecrows...



“We are but scarecrows, turning bandits away from the crops”



freshly gessoed canvas

the first mark

the hill

initial swarm layout

basic layout of the composition

with the scarecrow figure added

embolden lines to form foreground, middle, and back

more crows


And more later...