Copper Woods

Fourth Cliff View

It was a chilly day in the first week of December.   Although it was cold, the sun was shining so I bundled up and headed out for a plein air paint-out.   I drove to Humarock, a barrier island separating the mighty Atlantic from the easterly reaches of "northern" Marshfield.  I decided on a scene where the North River meets the South River and empties into the ocean.  Here the currents produce amazing churn and whitecaps. 

Copper Woods - Initial Stage

My gear was just about set up when a very nice military official asked me if I had a Military ID.    Apparently I was on government property and this installation was not open to the public.   Shucks...I was all ready to go.   The churning water and whitecaps were not going to make it into a painting on this day.



I eventually returned to the edge of some woods not far from the house - in fact I was at the edge of my property.   The sun was shining through the trees and illuminating the bed of fallen oak leaves.  It looked like a copper carpet.     And what started out as a scene I thought was boring, revealed its pretty patches of sky, branches, dry grasses and woodland under growth.  No rocks, no people, no animals, no house, no barn, no whitecaps...just some trees - but pretty trees.  :)

Copper Woods

Sweetness of Summer

Sweetness of  Summer

What a fun and enjoyable project.   Painting children as I've said many times before can be challenging.  It's a fine line between the soft and sweet expression and achieving an adequate likeness.  Tots have neither wrinkles or angular features, like adults and painters use these as convenient facial landmarks.   Tots have faces with airbrushed angelic-like perfection.    So the painting process of them may involve painting, wiping out, and repeating - until the soft likeness is achieved.

A good reference photo can make a positive difference when creating a painted portrait, and this was a good one.   The challenges in this project, besides the likeness, were 1) transforming the greenish-yellow tones in the photo into a more summery color scheme, (making it lighter and brighter), and secondly, realigning the rectangular photo onto a square format while maintaining the balance of the landscape, parasol and figure.

Warm summer sunlight on young, healthy figures in back-lighting often have a bright red glow, especially in the ears, hands and feet.   I intentionally pumped up the warm flesh color to contrast with the nice summery blue - its complement. The toddler's shadow is stretched to the right bottom corner, balanced by the shoreline entering from the left, leading to the figure. The loop of the parasol handle is a good compositional element for leading the viewer's eye back up to the sweet smiling face.

This painting will hopefully turn a simple summer-day photo into a permanent family heirloom.