Watermelon Slices Revisited

After looking at the painting of the slices of watermelon I did on May 23rd I wasn't real happy with it. The background is dull and uninspiring, but at the time I was only interested in rendering the slices and didn't put enough thought into the background.

I wanted to make changes to it and decided to put them in an outdoor setting where people can relate to it, as if at a picnic or out in the yard. And what is more refreshing on a hot summer day than juicy watermelon.

I simplified the background with summer colors associated with a humid day and put a blue tablecloth down to complete the story.
Oh yea,  thats a watermelon seed on the plate not a bug.
Thanks for looking.
Pat

Summer Landscape Core Creek Park 11x14

Core Creek Park Summer Landscape  11x14 oil


This painting was done from a plein air study I did a couple weeks ago  (a post on July 1st) when I was out painting with my brother Chris at Core Creek Park.  A few things interested me about this scene, first was the strip of bright grass separating the background from the middle distance trees.
The other was seeing into the shadows on the group of trees on the left next to the walking path. I wanted to maintain the contrast of shadow and sunlight but still being able to see in the shadow areas.
I added a jogger on the path to lead you into the scene and had the shadows of the trees mimic the shape of the walking path.

I am rediscovering this local county park the more I go there. Even though we have fished there when we were younger and I have painted there over the years I think the more I learn about painting the more things I see that I didn't before. Its like seeing the park with fresh eyes.
Core Creek Park is only 6 to 8 minutes away so its an easy trip when your time is limited.
 I'm going to try to do a series of paintings within this park over the course of a year to see where my interests lie.

Still Life Cherries and Cornacopia Vase

 I haven't done a still life in a while so for a change of pace I did this one. I had bought this cornucopia vase off a seller on Etsy because I liked the shape of it and its ability to hold fruit or other objects for still lifes.  I also like the light value it has so there will be a nice contrast to whatever I place in it.

I used top lighting in this painting placing the shadows right under the rim of the vase and emphasizing the color of the cherries.

Morning Session at Core Creek Park

My brother Chris and I went out to a local park to do some painting before the heat set in. We started at a favorite spot of mine, it has a view of the lake and surrounding treeline. As we drove along the park road I noticed the subtle colors in the sky and clouds and decided to try to capture that.

We used 5x7 panels because the light was changing quickly and I knew we were going to lose what was in front of us soon. Squinting at a bright sky made the landscape look so dark, I didn't realize how dark I painted it until i got it home. I had neutralized the green to dark values. The water was a slightly lighter value than the trees. I was a little too heavy with the yellow around the sun.

We decided to try one more painting and found a spot that offered some cross lighting and shadows to practice with. I was happier how this one turned out and it helped not having to fight a fast moving sun.

I forgot to get a picture of Chris's painting of this spot, sorry Chris.