Bluebird Art Hike Day

I took advantage of a lovely day out in my EV Bluebird, and hiked the state park with my mini art kit.

I sat down on a log and laid in a pencil sketch.  Before I could layer on permanent ink, I noticed a tick crawling up my leg.  Yikes! I brushed the tick away and snapped a photo of the scene in front of me so I could finish my art at home. 

Back in my studio, I added ink with a Lamy Safari fountain pen, then began adding a in washes of color.

Mixing phthalo blue and burnt sienna created the evergreen foliage, ultramarine blue for the sky, and a mixture of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna or burnt umber made the greys in the trees.  Burnt sienna and yellow ochre filled the forest floor with leaves, and sap green and yellow ochre created a moss color.

The crooked little sapling caught my eye from the moment I sat outside in the park, so I saved that tree for last and treated it lightly.

Comparing the photo to the painting, you'll see plenty of "artistic license" being used.

Remember that as the artist, you get to decide what to include in your artworks, and you can emphasize angles as I did with the little sapling here.  

You can make choices based on what you'd like to see in the composition and leave out trees or other elements as you choose.

I enjoyed keeping one light colored tree that caught my eye while I was sketching.  There are some things a photograph can't convey.  I'm glad I made a pencil sketch first to capture that fresh feeling you get from creating art from life.

Happy Creating!