I debated whether I should post this stage of the painting because there wasn't a great deal of change form the previous posting. Then I noticed there was a strategy for filling in the painting with tree branches and maintain the sought after sense of depth. The idea is to have the trees grow in the painting as they do in real life; from the ground up and from the trunk out and up to the sky. I will go back over those tree trunks that I want to recede in the distance by lifting pigment from the paper. The purpose of growing the trees out ward is you can then judge where the painting needs activity, and add detail to those areas that need it. In the zoomed up image I am showing an photo harvested from the internet that I used as a depth resource photo. It is a photo of a stand of elm trees which were everywhere in Detroit when I was a boy. In fact, Detroit had so many Elm trees Detroit was known as the Paris of North America. In the 60's Dutch elm disease killed all of the elm trees in Detroit and the rest of Michigan. Elm trees are towering and graceful trees and have a unique dendritic patterns and silhouette. The palmer Park of my youth would not be the same without the tall and elegant elms.
4 Comments
Marika Antal 17 Mar 2009
most stunning & pleasure to look at you work!!Regina Calton 13 Apr 2008
Stanton - do you lift the pigment by wetting the area and blotting it? This is a great example on the depth and distance and 'fading away' on the trees. Thank you!jamie winter 13 Apr 2008
awesome progress on your paintign , im so glad you posted it. wonderful landscape of the treesJulie Mayser 13 Apr 2008
Ah, the towering and graceful elms! Yes, they were everywhere in Chicago too, way back when. I think this stage in your painting is a definite help for those of us following your step-by-step demo! This painting in stages is really wonderful for explaining how to work in watercolor!