First of May at Long Hill (Oil Bar Painting as of May 23, 2013)

First of May at Long Hill (Oil Bar Painting as of May 23, 2013), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a work-in-progress, an oil bar painting I started this week. It is loosely based on a photo that I took on May 1 at Long Hill Gardens, here in Beverly, MA. I have been posting my progress every day. In between painting sessions, I have been using the computer to help me resolve problems with the composition. Two days ago, I used Painter's digital pastel to draw over a photo of the painting so I could try out a change to the two trees on the left. Yesterday's post shows the painting after I applied the solution. I also did the same thing to figure out what to do with the bright pink azalea bush in the foreground, and this post is the result. (I love azaleas and I wanted that color in the painting, but even in the reference photo, that plant is a bit of a distraction.) So late yesterday, I came up with a solution on the computer with Painter, and very early this morning (12:30 to 1 AM), I got out my oil bars and tucked that little azalea under the tree with some other bushes. It's still there, which makes me happy, but now it doesn't distract the eye from that long walk across the lawn to the gate.