I’ve been playing with my woods lately, experimenting with layering more textures and combining loose and controlled approaches to the work. Sanctuary #5 – Drizzly October has the bright colors of fall subdued by the rain, mists, and fog we’ve been experiencing lately. The atmospherics soften the effect of all the color and bring a sense of quiet and peaceful harmony to the whole. Once again, a little patch of woods delivers all the inspiration I need.

Technical painting notes: This painting went through quite a few changes during its development. It started with a monoprint approach, rolling dark oil paint onto the panel and working to set the major linear gestures with a lot of texture. Later work included glazing and brushwork to bring the subject into focus, as shown below:

While I liked the way it was progressing, it seemed too direct, too obvious. I wanted to find poetic possibilities in October, not just the bright colors. On a whim, I mixed a semitransparent gray/beige color and tried rolling it over parts of the painting, I loved the way it exaggerated the 3-D effect of the impasto knifework. I also mixed a pale, semi-transparent gray/blue and started rolling that onto the painting. It started to feel like the fogginess I observed while driving to the studio, adding a sense of concealed mystery to the piece. Additional brushwork to refine the negative space, more tree limbs and scrub, and the addition of many more super fine stems and branches (dark and light) added more depth. details below.