Sketches, painting and photography by Leslie Snider: June 2017

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Lush Summer 2017

Lush Summer pastel Leslie Snider

Lots of recent rain means

everything is lush and green.

As a landscape painter

I often use greens

that are muted

and subordinate

to the main features of a picture.

This photo taken along my dog walking trail

captured my imagination

with it's lively colour and light.

In adapting it for pastel,

I chose strong blue greens

rather than the warm yellow greens

of the photo.

I cropped the photo

to zoom in on

a more manageable composition.

With such a complex amount of detail

I did a quick thumbnail

to isolate the main features.

I liked the tree shapes

which act as an honour guard along the path.

The verticals draw your eye down

to the wispy wild flox.

The touches of warm mauve and red

help break up the masses of green.

As always it is the light

filtering through the undergrowth.

which gives most character to this picture.

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Adapting Photos for painting

Here's the inspiration...what do I do next?

Firstly, I asked myself why I wanted to paint this scene....
(no you can't say because I like it!)
It's important to be specific...
As you're painting it will be a reminder to emphasis those aspects.
In this scene, I was attracted to the colour contrast
of turquoise water and the warm, oranges, reds of the foreground.
I also liked the contrast of broad expansive foreground
leading to the focal point into the distance.

The second step is to eliminate or change details that don't complement your overall concept.
Often the impact of a scene is spoiled with too much detail.
The sky was starkly blank so I created a softly textured sky that wouldn't detract from the rest.

Removing the colour contrasts from the finished painting here....

shows how the pattern of light and dark carries the eye through the picture.
I balanced the horizontal shadows with the lights of the sky, water and grasses coming forward.

Here's the final picture ....