Demonstration painting completed

Many painters work on several paintings at once.  Oil painters, in particular, will have more than one painting on the go at a time as the drying time of oil is quite slow.  For some reason, I tend to work on one painting at a time, starting the next as its predecessor goes through its final evaluation and tweaking.  When I work on more than one painting at a time, I seem to lose focus.  Fortunately I work in acrylic so drying time is not an issue.

Last month I had the pleasure of teaching some workshops here in Kelowna, BC and to be invited to do a demonstration of my underpainting technique to the Thompson Nicola Shuswap Chapter of the Federation of Canadian Artists at their meeting in Chase, BC.  As a result of those demonstrations, I have 4 paintings in various stages of development in my studio.

It took me a while to decide which painting to pick up.  I decided to work on this painting.  I had done the underpainting before going to Chase for the TNSC demo and had developed it during the 2 hour demonstration.

Looking at the painting, I generally like what I see.  In particular, there is an area of blue tones in what could be the middle ground of the painting.  

I don’t remember intentionally creating a middle ground of trees behind and obscured by the foreground trees but I like the colour and the pattern it helps create.  

I want to expand that pattern into the two areas shown above.

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After the next painting session, I feel I am starting to get the atmosphere I want and some nice patterns in the background.  However, the very light patches in the trees in the lower left of the painting are distracting and some areas are a bit busy.

After refining it some more and emphasizing the atmosphere of the location (Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island), I think it is done! The name of this painting, “From the Dark Side” is about seeing the light from the dark side of the forest but it could also be a description of how the painting evolved from the dark forest to the light streaming through.

I hope you enjoy it!

From the Dark Side, 20" x 20", Acrylic, $400, Location - Cathedral Grove, Vancouver Island, BC