Reflections (Oil Bar Painting as of August 16, 2013)

Reflections (Oil Bar Painting as of August 16, 2013), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Here is my painting in progress as it looked on Friday, August 16th. I am using oil bars to paint this scene, based on a photograph that I took in Topsfield, MA, at Bradley Palmer State Park (posted here on June 14, 2013.) On the preceding day (Thursday the 15th), I had decided that I had to revise the stand of three trees in the distance because I wasn't happy with the shape and proportions of the tree. Many of the lines in the composition will lead right to those trees, so they need to look good. Given the time already spent on this painting, I didn't want to risk a trial-and-error approach on the canvas. So Thursday night, I used Painter software to try out some solutions, using a photo of painting. I used digital paint to sketch out a couple of solutions, and when I had a solution that I wanted to use, I printed it out. So Friday morning, I was ready to repaint those trees. I started by making a slight adjustment in the ratio of tree-trunk height to foliage. Then I painted in tree branches (even though I knew I would cover them up). Then I revised the shape of the tree foliage, using the branches as a guide, so this little invented tree would make sense. I was much happier with the new shape, so I repainted the foliage and added detail. I was pretty pleased with the result. I even took a closeup photo which I plan to post tomorrow.