Saturday, July 23, 2011

Hillside Evening

"Hillside Evening"
12x16 Oil on Panel
Trying to improve an older painting that I felt was never quite complete back when I painted it. I went back in and repainted the background mountain, added moredetail to the foreground hillside and slightly adjusted the tree tops. I'm happier with the finish now. I don't usually go back over older paintings but this one grabbed my attention the other day while I was going over my older work. There is just a yucky feeling I get when painting over dried paint. I don't prefer painting over wet paint either. I like painting over tacky, sticky paint which is where my paint usually is by the end of the day or the next morning. Despite all of that ,this one ended up with a decent look to it so I'm calling it quits at this point. 

4 comments:

Diane Antone said...

Hi Ron, I just found your blog yesterday when I was looking for information on making floater frames! I love your paintings, and your details of how to build the frames are brilliant - all I need to do is buy a table saw! I'm a starving artist too, living in Brittany, France. Your work is really inspiring, thank you for sharing it, and thanks for sharing your trials and tribulations too!
Diane.

Ron Guthrie said...

Hi Diane,
Thanks a lot for your very nice comments. I'm glad you like the details on the framing. I'm not the best frame maker but sometimes they turn out good enough to hang and they are just simple frames that are easy to make for a painter.

A table saw is a bit of an investment as one of your tools but once you have one you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. You can do so many other projects with one. If you know a neighbor with one you might talk him into doing your cutting...guys with saws love to use them, haha.

(Not meant in a mean way)...glad I'm not the only one starving! hahaha. Thanks Diane

Unknown said...

The colour of this striking. The lovely juxtaposition of the complementary yellow/ violet give the piece a real 'zing'. Does this represent a shift in how you are seeing the chroma in the scenes before you?

Ron Guthrie said...

Hi Mick,
The violet on the hillside was already there when originally painted. I wanted to add some additional grass work so I used a fresh mix of violet and then added the yellows. It's not so much seeing more chroma, my goal is to simply add more color in the foregrounds where before I was happy with just grasses....usually ochre colored.

You bringing up chroma though is interesting. The color I've been adding has been to add flowers (usually) but maybe you bring up a good point...to push the color by adding higher chroma colors (like to the grasses)...worth a try. I can't believe I hadn't thought of that...thanks for bringing that hammer of yours for my thick skull Mick!!