Monday, November 4, 2013

Moonlit Nocturne, Core Creek Park, 11x14 oil painting

                                       
Moon Over the Lake 11x14 oil

This was painted from one of the sketches I did on Sept 20 at Core Creek Park during the Harvest Moon.

  When attempting to paint at night a lot of my time  on location is spent just looking at and memorizing what is in front of me. After I lay out my paint and have brushes and everything ready I turn the light out on my easel and let my eyes adjust to the dark.  When my eyes have adjusted I start comparing the values of each object in the scene to see what is darker, lighter or the same value. I'm actually painting the scene in my mind before I pick up a brush, so when I start to paint I have the confidence to paint what I already know.

6 comments:

Jane said...

Interesting procedure Pat and a beautiful result , you created such a romantic mood .

Pat O'Driscoll said...

Thanks Jane.

Kev's Art said...

I'm almost speechless!! This is a superb picture Pat. It's not easy getting subjects like this to look convincing but you've absolutely nailed it. It was interesting to read about your preparation for a picture like this and it makes a lot of sense, time observing is never wasted! Brilliant atmosphere, it reminds me of days gone by when I used to go night fishing. Well done mate!!!

Pat O'Driscoll said...

Thanks for the kind comment Kev.

juliefordoliver.blogspot.com said...

I was impressed by the beautiful close value changes in this so it was neat to read how you went about painting it.

Pat O'Driscoll said...

Thank you Julie.