Church at Troutbrook Road

Not sure how well this will show on the web, but this is the first step in my full size painting, measuring 18" x 36".
Pencil on canvas.
I will take the lessons I learned from painting the quick 6" x 12" study, and apply them here.
Onward!

In-progress snapshots:







Next session will involved adding more branches in the foreground, and finishing the steeple, shown here half-painted.

Looking good, Alan.
Dayle

Alan, you are moving right along!   I'm looking forward to seeing the final results.

I see a few things that are different from the original study (such as the left side; not including as much as is shown in the study).   What were the things in the study that "called to you" to change them?   I also notice that the study image shows as very warm and the full-size one is much cooler.   A result of different lighting when taking the two images, or are you using different colors?   While the two images have very different looks, each expresses its own realistic mood.

Hi Jim;
Good comments.

The cropping is indeed different, as I discovered when I started roughing in the paint.
I wish I could say it was a deliberate decision, but as I look at the two paintings on my monitor, it looks as if I moved the image area to the right for the larger size pencil rough.
The two pencil sketches were done a few months ago, one right after the other, using a projector to enlarge the source photo onto the canvases. I actually prefer the cropping of the study, as the building shapes seem more interesting than the additional trees on the right.

The colour change is likely a result of trying to tweak the saturation and colour of the photos of the study. I am having a heck of a time taking decent snapshots without getting all involved in camera white balance and so on. The light in my studio, with its south exposure, ranges from bright and dazzling to pale and insipid, then boosted by Ott lights and overhead incandescents. So, sometimes I try to move the colour around in the Photoshop file. This backfires when I take the next photo, when there's a completely different colour temperature in the studio. The final photos will be taken outdoors in the shade, and will be more faithful.

I did make some deliberate changes between how I painted the study and the larger painting.
In the larger one, I used thinner paint on the buildings, thinking that I would want to scrape some of it off, or add brown as I started to add blurred branches. Looking back, I think that I could have added saturation by going with full strength paint.

I have also been experimenting with brushes on this one, so I used hog bristle for much of the painting, especially the sky, background trees, and foreground snow. I tried a 'mop brush" to splatter in some branch texture, which was interesting. The palette knife just didn't seem to work for me as much as it did on the study, maybe due to the size difference in the canvases. I started in with the knife on the branches, but then went to a brush.

More branches in the next session.

I like the balance of the larger version. It appears that you cropped off some of the building on the left so that the main buildings feel more forward while the right trees and building details receded more into the background giving much more depth to the entire painting.

Looks like it's going to be another beauty! Looking forward to seeing your next steps.

Thank you all for your comments. Much appreciated.

Another stage of the painting:



I took this photo during a change in direction. I had tried painting the branches in with a soft brush, and was not feeling good about what was happening.
It just was not working. I stopped, and took a break, and decided that I could try another technique or scrap the canvas. I began the repaint with the blue snow on the church roof.
Then snapped this shot, and kept going.

The final painting is on the completed painting page.

Good call! I like the finished version much better where there isn't so much foreground foliage and branches blocking the view of the church.