As I was working on this painting I stopped to take a few photographs along the way to show some of the step by step progression. I first paint in the sky and then land area on a painting in 2-3 layers of paint. After that I will sit and look at the canvas at that point and envision what I will paint into the scene. I usually have a fairly good idea in my mind before this, but often when viewing the base layers on the canvas, I may decide to go a different direction that I had original thought!
I paint in the clouds and the Gothic style farmhouse, red barn and shed here, deciding upon spacing and placement of them on the canvas as I do so.
Gothic house as the first layer blocked in.
Old red barn and shed with the window areas darkened in and roof shading here.
I have now added the dark areas of the windows and front door at this point and have started on the roof color layers and shading also.
The land area has had multiple layers of brush work added now and a little flock of sheep painted in now also. Last fall I photographed part of a flock of sheep out grazing in a rural pasture about 10 miles from here. The sheep first came up along the fence to see if I had anything for them to eat and after hanging around for a while, wandered back out into the pasture again.
The full completed painting measures 24 x 36" on stretched canvas.
I love the views of the big blue Midwestern sky that we have here in the heartland. We live in a very flat area and you can see for miles around. Great for watching storms come in! It has been a very long winter here, as many people in the U.S. have experienced this year. I love to think ahead of the warm spring and summer days ahead. This painting makes me think of those perfect summer days with a light breeze and puffy white clouds overhead!
