I set the kitchen timer for 15 minutes and started up again with the acrylics. I wanted to put layers of color on the large areas again, letting some of both the background and the first layer showing through. That creates visual interest. No details now, except way off in the distance, where I'm keeping things light and indistinct, as befits the miles of distance and air between me and the objects. The sky in this afternoon painting was done with the trio of sky colors--ultramarine, alizarin and yellow ochre plus white. The mountains were done with a veil of darker sky colors leaning toward the blue. As I painted the lower portions, and lay in the shadow green of the citrus, I'm into the thalo green and burnt umber. No palm trees yet--they'll go in at a later stage to "knit" together the horizontal areas of citrus and distant fields.
Here's the view from that bench, and you can see how much I've already changed the image. I am bringing the viewer's eyes into the painting on the path, and then making much more interesting the layers that march up to the horizon, adding color and interest. Keep this image in mind as we go forward in the next two steps to the finished painting!Remember, it isn't the view that drives the art, that is only the match that lights the fuse. You, the artist are the firecracker that explodes in creating the fireworks of your paintings! Don't let the tiny match drive your work....
And anyone who has driven west on the 91 freeway through the Santa Ana Canyon might easily recognize Santiago Peak and the mountains of the Cleveland National Forest from this vantage point.
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