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Written by David
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Thursday, 01 November 2007 |
Beech Roots Progress. 24” x 16”, 61cm x 41cm
These
Beech roots were photographed at the time I was working on the ‘Beech Tree'
painting below, in fact it was only a few trees away from there. The light effect was so fleeting, that I've
had to base the whole painting on just two images.
I
didn't photograph the early stages of this painting, but wanted to put it here
so that those of you who saw me working on it at my Chester Zoo exhibition can now
see as it progress through to the finished piece.
It's
an acrylic painting on board which I prepared with several coats of a white
acrylic gesso primer. The whole area has
been washed in to capture the main areas of light. The main challenge for me now is to maintain
the glow of dappled sunlight as I gradually darken the areas of shadows. Sunlit areas on tree bark are often darker
than they appear on digital images which may exaggerate the harsh contrast
between light and shade.
It
was always my intention to have a bird in the scene, but this is quite a large
tree, so a Nuthatch or Great Spotted Woodpecker will appear as quite a small
element in the painting.
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