At the Lake, Memorial Day 6x6 oil, copyright 2011
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Went back to late May for this one. A cool dip in the lake sounds inviting in the extreme heat we've been having this week! Over Memorial Day weekend, the family headed out to a man-made lake in eastern Ohio where my parents have a small cottage. Boating, fishing and swimming took up most of our time.
Close to the cottage is an area for launching boats, and swallowtail butterflies gather at the edge of the water to drink up nutrients from the mud. My daughter tried to see how close she could get, but they all took off at her approach. I tried painting them flittering around her, but the painting is just too small - they came out just as blobs.
I think this is the first time I have painted a figure in oil. Slowly it's sinking in that careful measurements before painting make a big difference in the end. And I have to add, that I am loving her hat - I think that might make a few more appearances in the future.
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I love her hat too. This is a great painting. It amazes me the details you can get in such a small area.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sue! There's a bit of a learning curve in working out how detailed you need to be to get the idea. It's actually been a bit surprising how much you can leave out - the viewers can fill in a lot of details themselves.
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