Lavender Farm Portrait 1. Here is the Camden Creek Lavender Farm’s grand daughter in a photograph. She is the model for this portrait.
She is photographed while picking in their fields of lavender. Her smile is perfect and the way that the light filters through her straw hat is just great. The background of lavender plant rows are a wonderful source of beauty.
Here is a view of the entire layout of the fields behind the little girl with a beginning yellow base wash applied. As you look over the lavender rows going down the hill you see that there is a row of trees framing the edge of the field in the distance.
Continually darker washes are applied in greens between the purple and pink rows of lavender and I see the perspective of the fields showing as the little girl comes closer to me in the foreground because of it. This change is giving us a great separation between her and the fields.
Lavender and deep purples darkened the flowers in the foreground. One of my favorite times begin As I start to remove the resist and see the whites left in reserve for the final detailing I recognize one of my favorite things.
Some people criticize an artist for using masking fluid. I don’t think there is anything wrong with it. The application of resist allows me to freely and boldly apply strokes of color in wide areas. You can’t improve on paints being able to freely intermingle with a free spirit. Happiness is, dropping bright pools of color just where you want them to spread.
Now, another dilemma becomes apparent. Which orientation would look best for this piece? Horizontal or Vertical, Hmmmmm. Which orientation would you pick? Vertical or…
Horizontal? Both views are scenes I have seen dogs take naturally.
With a plain ground surface, this is exaggerated. So, some varying shapes of green are dropped onto the lawn below him to separate that surface from his body. Also, darkening the ground near his rear hips seems to help show how his body recedes away from our view in a much more believable way.
I am slowly rendering the many different details now. Darkening the darkest places and adding rich brown to his fur everywhere. I make sure there is a slight lit edge on his jowl line so it will not get lost in his body surface below. A rim light.