12 x 12", oil on linen panel, 2015. Sold.
This was painted en plein air during the Kerrville, Texas Outdoor Painting Event and received Best of Show honors. The orange tailgate emerging from the shadow of the shelter was the inspiration and key to this piece. It’s the main squeeze and the rest is garnish. I kept the orange pure by using a clean brush, fresh Gamsol and mixing my orange with some transparent indian yellow so that it could show through to the bright tone stain of the canvas.
I knew I needed to get my drawing accurate so that I wouldn’t noodle with the color. Once it was down, I wanted it to stay there. Another major compositional decision I made was to not put the implied point of the roof in the center of the canvas. The bright, warm-blue sky made for great color harmony and the repetition of strong shapes relate to each other and are anchored by the orange. It was a fun painting to paint. Plus, I was sitting in the shade!
Plein Air Magazine - Painting Directly from Nature - Trains, Planes and Automobiles p.29
