The Next Step

Now with the turpentine wash completed, I can start with my oil paints. I begin with the sky, which is really minimal background to the silhouette. A slight blue in the upper right and lower center. In softening the sky in the lower right, I painted over the "curve-up" of that lower right most branch. It was the only way to avoid hard edges for the sky. No problem. When I get to the fine detail of the leaves and branch, I’ll paint the curve in.

I thought rather than working top to bottom (as is my preference), I would "build" the structure of the painting and put the tree in next. Also, since my browns usually dry in a day or so, the green leaves of the acacia will paint nicely over the top. There will be a little mixing of color. That will give the painting a natural look, but it won’t be enough to make the greens muddy. With the tree so dark, I need that lacy, clean color to bring out the light.

Now I am done with my basic structure. I’ll be making modifications as I continue painting, a little sunlight on the branch here, some dark patches there, a lot more little branches. But, the framework is going in the direction I had hoped.