30 in 30: day 21 - Luberon Valley

 

Luberon Valley 

24" x 30" - acrylic on canvas - $450

I started this painting in December, and once again, really liked my 'start' (see below). The scene was inspired by my time spent in the Luberon Valley in the south of France, but is really a composite of elements that make up that wonderful landscape.

After adding lines and creating shapes with a white paint marker, I began to slow down. The lower half needed more definition  and I wanted to eliminate the way lines and colour seemed to create a pin-wheel effect in the centre.  So I began to give the middle ground more physical structure.....

Decided the area on the horizon line was too big, and broke it down, then added some weightier trees in the lower foreground.

I left it alone at this point, and just returned to it this past week, making final colour adjustments. I have looked at it long and hard for a few days now, and feel it is finally done, and I am happy with it.  And it Day 21's painting in the 30 in 30 challenge. 

Painting an Old Ochre Quarry in the Luberon Valley, encore

Old Ochre Quarry in the Luberon
24"x 30" - acrylic on canvas - SOLD

In May I painted in an old abandoned ochre quarry in the Luberon Valley. At the time it was a challenge to paint the cast (tree) shadows as the light and therefore their shapes, kept changing. I took lots of photos with the intention of  returning to this subject once home. Parts of this painting were easy and therefore fun to paint, other areas like the foreground were a challenge and I had to do a lot of 'landscape editing'. The colour ochre and yellow were the staring point colours for the palette, which then demanded the complementary shades of purple through red and pink, which then required green. Tried to keep blue out of this one, but some still sneaked in.  

Have a great weekend.