Thursday, September 1, 2011

Sierra Nevadas in Spring



Sometimes I will go back and improve an older painting that is almost, but not quite, where I want it. This painting (inspired by one of Bierstadt's works) is an example. Originally, the trees were darker and had almost no yellow or brown in the leaves - the grass was the same, and this resulted in a lack of color harmony. The water was painted before I knew how to add underwater rocks, and it needed more Cerulean Blue to reflect the sky. Finally, the clouds needed some improved contrast - I also added more wispy clouds to push back the distant cliffs and hills. The end result is an improved painting - thankfully, acrylic paintings are easy to rework!

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

The OLD version of the painting is shown below so that one can see the improvements - the original photo was also rather dark.


1 comment:

  1. Well, you can color me fickle - I like both of them! Hope you kept the photo file on the original! I enjoy viewing your work.

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