TM8343 Beginning to Rain 22×22 oil on panel

I love rainy days, especially in spring. Walking around the pond, hearing frogs plop plopping off their logs, turtles dozing, the fresh smell of damp and rain coming, a wind picking up….that is the subject of this painting. Enjoy!

Technical painting notes – The painting began in my usual manner, with a roll-up of gray blue ink, then lots of spattering,  blotting, and wiping away of lights. But after working for a few days tightening up the details, it went “dead”, sooooo….. I took a chip brush loaded with pale gray paint and Liquin and boldly brushed the paint all over the upper part of the painting. I did the same on the lower half, but instead of  pale gray I used blue black. That changed things – the painting was interesting again. I resumed refining the details and adding many layers of glaze. Sometimes you have to destroy to find the real subject. The radical intervention gave a sense of movement to the air, and simplified the foreground, creating a glassy, dark, and more mysterious pond. Details below.

TM8343 Beginning to Rain (detail from center)

TM8343 Beginning to Rain (detail of treeline)