#23: Out of my Window

You might say this is my first "commissioned" piece. My younger son moved to Nebraska for a job. He misses the mountains terribly and asked if I would paint him a picture of the mountains. So that was my inspiration for this work. I decided I would recreate the view from his bedroom window (taking some artistic license to remove a few houses and some power lines!!)

#23

20" X 24" Canvas Board
Acrylic

What I like about the painting:

• I am especially pleased by the color in the foothills. I like how the bluish greens blend and give the sense of some prairie grasses.
• I sense a bit of rolling hills in the foreground - or maybe it is just me, knowing they are there!
• I limited myself to primary colors, white and black. I like the variation in color I achieved.

What I might do differently:

• OMG - I was so pleased with my cows until I sat back and realized how small they are given the overall perspective of the painting. 
• Likewise, the fence by the barn is far too tall.

What I learned:

• Joy Schultz (see previous post) kept telling the class that we didn't need to sketch things out on the canvas in detail before painting. I 'framed' the view from my son's window, and made preliminary marks for the key features of the painting… and it worked!
• One afternoon as I was painting, the cows came into view. I grabbed a sketch book and make some quick sketches of the cows in different positions. It helped when it came time to paint the cows - which I did without sketching on the canvas first.

Our son's apartment is very dark. We saw a wood window at a local hardware store and both hubby and I thought it might be possible to create a light box with the window. This is the project, in progress. Eventually we will add LED lights behind the frame, and trim.  We will either paint or stain the wood.