October Fields 12x16 pastel, copyright 2012
Corn and soybeans are the most commonly planted crops in my area, and most farmers rotate their fields yearly between the two. Corn is more interesting in midsummer, when the long leaves are dark green, topped by pale yellow tassels. But in the fall, soybeans have them beat. The leaves on the plants turn bright yellow before they fall off and the remaining stems and seed pods are wonderful shades of warm brown.
I noticed these fields along Twin Creek about five miles north of our house, on a bright October day last year. There was actually quite a bit more going on in the photograph, with trees along the road and shadows and weeds on the fence line. The bottom right hand corner got quite complicated - and very distracting. An eraser solved that problem, and put the emphasis back on the yellow soybeans where it should be. I have to keep reminding myself that photos are to be used as guidelines only.
Posts
Have I done a Rip-Van-Winkle and missed the summer? I thought it was late Jan aaargh.
ReplyDeleteI like the pattern that has emerged with the compostion of htis piece.
Can I suggest that maybe another post to the left to lead the eye back up the left side might also help take the viewer away from purple bottom right?
LOL, Sue. It's very unseasonable here, feels more like April than January. I don't mind it being warmer than normal, but I miss the sun, guess that's why I've been painting it so much lately!
ReplyDeleteI was a bit worried about the purple corner in this piece. It's too strong, isn't it? I think maybe if there were purple mountains in the background that would help, but we only have rolling hills in Ohio. Good suggestions with the post, that might help. I'm going to think about making the roadway into green grass instead. An artist's work is never quite done, is it? Thanks for the suggestion!