Painting #196 - Aug 8 - Live, love & Laugh

I know, what's up, right? Well, had another friend die, so sad, I also know that as I'm aging, so are they, but I now know how my mother felt when all her friends were dying, it's just sad, so I'm going to get to go to this funeral, I've only known Jean 5 years but she was special, super sweet, and very generous, her last 2 years were hell, she had cancer, so, enough said.

I will also confess, I chose this photo because I knew I could paint it quickly, I spent the whole day getting mats cut, I still have about 25 to do, but that is less than half of what there was, I have been bad this last 2 months about getting to the studio and cutting, I put the equipment away, since I will not be able to get to the others until Friday, and I have china painting class on Thursday, I've not always been good about putting the stuff put away until I absolutely have to, it's a bad habit, I'm trying to get myself into a rhythm, probably the only way that I will be able to correct all my lazy habits, I am trying, this blog operation is a device to get me into better painting and organizational habits. I did get this painting done tonight before 10:15 (and that's amazing because, I didn't start it until 9:00, opps!), well, I'm thinking that is what I have to do, look for the simple compositions for a little while, to get me back on schedule.

I did not draw this, I just started with the sky, then while that was wet, I put in the distant hills (the far distance, they are blue/purple), then the close hill, and the middle ground, then the round bales of hay and the grass, I didn't put the trees in the foreground and the middle ground until last. I also forgot to mention that I used a 5" x 5" Aquabord, these paint up so quickly and I really needed that today, since my back feels like a pretzel from leaning over the mat cutter. I laid in a bit more color on the close hill, then went over it with a bit of misty blue, so it looked like distant atmosphere. Then, I worked on the bales, they were really easy and once they were in, I put the tree in over the background, and the grasses in the foreground, then, I decided to put in the drive to lead you into the painting, of course there was no drive in the photo, and no puddles. I really like this little painting and I hope you do too.