"Chamberlin Ranch Oaks"
6" X 8" Oil on Panel
This small painting was painted about a year ago. I recently had this in the Silent auction during the Los Olivos Quick Draw event and it sold to a really nice woman from Hermosa Beach, CA. I had wanted to try and paint another version of the small painting to push the colors and add more detail in the foreground. Before the Quick Draw I grabbed a 16"X20" canvas that had a Marine painting on it and decided to paint over it.
Normally when painting over an old painting I'd sand off any lumps of old paint and then wipe it with a mixture of yellow ochre or indian yellow and turpintine first. This gives you a more even tone to paint over and fresh paint for the new paint to stick to. Instead I just wiped it down with a very diluted mix of turpentine and copal and once it was tacky I painted away without a tinted ground. This forced me to paint thicker since I tend to paint thin.
"Oaks At Chamberlin Ranch"
16"X20" Oil on Canvas
There were slight changes to the newer painting since I wasn't trying to copy the original but just use it as a reference. I got most of the painting in before delivering the small painting on Thursday night to the auction. After the weekend event was over I came back to the new painting and finished it off. I really pushed the colors and detail which was the point of it all. I like the changes and added color/detail of the new painting. It is a good thing to try doing these with ones own work. There is a normal pressure with every painting as you try to make it a good painting of course but in doing a second painting I found that pressure was not there. I already had a good painting so there was a lot more freedom to experiment and make changes here regardless of the outcome...if something didn't work I could always just wipe it down or wipe the whole painting down and start over. Things went well on this one so I'm happy with the effort.
A detail of the tree and foreground....
I really like the second one. Pushing the colors worked, that touch of red in the foreground and the more intense light further back give it life.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if painting over an old canvas takes some pressure off too? You know, not sitting down to a blank page.
Hi Dianne,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. I really like the color changes with the newer version. Their seems to always be some bit of pressure with a blank canvas. Painting over an old painting is like saving a canvas and giving it another shot at becoming a good painting worth a buyers interest or eventual purchase. I think that tends to reduce the pressure on the artist. I think it just makes me feel good about that second chance so I tend to be in a better more relaxed mood when painting over a painting.
I TOTALLY agree with Dianne. I actually like your larger painting a lot better than the little study that sold.
ReplyDeleteGREAT lesson, Ron!!!
Hi Marian,
ReplyDeleteThanks, I like the newer version too. The added color works nicely here and was pretty fun to paint.
Ron