Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Oil Painting - Who Needs a Reference Image?


Autumn Oil Landscape Painting

"Driving Into Autumn"
Krys Pettit
Oil on Canvas
 8" x 10"

I have worked from my own images for decades. I have stacks of reference photos.  Files of digital images.  Books with painting ideas.  Sometimes is a just too much for my creative brain and I want to just paint. 
Artists rely on memory more than we care to admit. All those years of sitting in the car observing while my husband drove gave me a memory palace better than any photo file. "Driving Into Autumn" took about 90 minutes to do. Loose, impressionistic and fresh. It's that scene in the mountains in October I am looking forward to seeing which exists only in my mind.

Below some images of the progression of the piece:

Ready to paint after putting in some basic shapes and colors. Cotton candy colored sky not my fav.

Adding some darker colors in the middle and lots of orange and green for trees
Loving how the orange, green and red hint at fall leaves turning in the distance
Starting the finesse the mountains in the distance with cool lavender, blues and greens. Add more color to the sky for a mood -- sunrise or sunset?
Suggested more variation in the mountains in the distance, pumped up the sky a bit and added some colors in the foreground. 

And that's a good day in the studio.


Visit my website for a sampling of my work and custom house portraiture:

Wild Oats and Billy Goats is a great, eclectic fine art and craft gallery in Decatur, GA and I am thrilled be a part of their tribe:

Etsy is a great marketplace for fine art and craft and I have had my store there for a number of years.  You'll find prints and my medium-sized oils, acrylic and watercolors.

Looking for art to fill your home and within budget?  I regularly put out studies, smaller works, and older pieces for auction at my eBay store.  It's fun to bid and win and I keep the work varied and fresh:



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