Audubon Paint Out

Audubon Barn and Truck Stage 1

Audubon Barn and Truck Stage 2

On a perfect day recently, my husband and I drove a short distance to the Daniel Webster Mass Audubon site in Marshfield, MA.   It's the end of August and everywhere we look, it's beautifully lush and green.    For my composition, I chose a two phase barn structure with a farm truck in front of it.     It was early morning and the shadows were warm and long.   The weathered roof and sides of the barn was a lavender bluish gray. 




The structure to the left housed the baled hay. The low angle of the sun was shining in on the  the hay which was stacked at different heights within the barn.   I liked the variation of the stacks in the light.

The contrast between the trees and the sky was pretty dramatic and at first I found that I didn't paint the trees dark enough.  I didn't like having to come back to make them darker, but I did.   The distant grass was a light green which I made from viridian, lemon yellow and white. I gradually added more cadmium yellow as I painted down the canvas to the foreground grasses.  

 At the end of the paint out a rustle in the bushes drew our attention to a young deer with six inch antlers.   He crossed the area I had just painted and I thought about adding him in.   It's still a work in progress, so I still may do that.



Audubon Resident