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Friday, January 29, 2010

More Birch Trees!


Same study, more tweaking. I darkened the foreground, shadows and some of the sky. Because of the light today my sky looks lavendar and the white of the birch bark is lost.

This is the best photo I could get of my latest birch study but it should convey an idea of the sunrise effect. I will most likely play with this some more and bring in some deeper shadows on the snow in the foreground. If it doesn't work out it's just a study. I used to hate doing studies and thought they were a waste of time but now I'm enjoying them, especially when I'm so far out of my comfort zone. They waste less paper, less time and they provide a wealth of much needed information.

I emailed my customer the last two color sketches/studies and she decided on the second sketch. She said it looked the most like the area where she lives and I have to agree. She didn't care for all the orange and red in the first study but did say she was open to bringing in a little more color to the one she did choose and suggested a sunset landscape. I thought early sunrise would work much better. I love the look of all those amazing pastel colors that bathe the landscape just before the sun appears on the horizan. At that time of day there's usually a bit of mist hanging over the lake and the waters are usually calm and reflective.

9 comments:

Krista Hasson said...

Lovely. Birch trees are so interesting, I love them!

Billie Crain said...

Thanks, Krista.:) They're beginning to grow on me.;)

Ron Morrison said...

I think it developed very nicely and you landed in a good spot...

Billie Crain said...

You think, Ron? Btw, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.:)

Tracey said...

I really like this study as well, the greens really play nicely against the sky and birch trees :)

Billie Crain said...

Thanks, Tracey.:) I still don't know what I'm doing with this landscape. Nothing really grabs me. I gessoed some paper last night and will see what I can come up with.

Nick said...

Good practice, which I never do...making me feel guilty. I hope you're not going to leave that broken branch flush with the horizon line of the background, a big no-no in my book. But see what Earl Scheib says. lol

Billie Crain said...

When I'm out my comfort zone I always do studies, Nick. I hate wasting big pieces of paper. It's not my diligence as an artist but my miserly ways. lol

Btw, what broken branch? I don't see a broken branch in these studies.

Earl Scheib the auto body painter? I had to Google him. What'd he say?

Billie Crain said...

I see the broken branch I think you're referring to now. Actually it's a broken tree. My bad.