Today I was thinking about the two scenes I did not want to frame from the plein-air week. I had them up , side by side , on my easal and each time I passed them I would see someting different - - - -that was good, to change, to finnishe, or to darken or to lighten - - - -calling the shots while on the location isn't always the best or the conclusion of your work. These had been sitting for 3 days now, and today I went ahead and made those changes that seemed needed. I still will not frame these, but they have been more than useful to my continueing education in plein-air painting. I used a Sienna pastelmat for both, mounted on foamcor, in size 9 x 11. Judging the values at first was hard againt the orangy-ness of the support. . . . .but the idea was that it would also help tame the greens THAT WERE EVERYWHERE! And green is my fav color! This first one in all the sagebrush was the first day - - - The painter I painted with didn't want to paint all the big evergreens, and snowcapped mountains and such that were in our area to paint, go figure!!! So we went and found Sagebrush!! Really not to hard where we live. I just went ahead and gave it a try.
Thsi second one is more about the area we were in, that was everywhere in Hope valley . and right now its soooo green!! A few weeks ago, it was all white! This was also on the Sienna pastelmat, and I guess it helped the greens? Its also a comp. that Lorenzo Chavez did from his workshop 2 years ago in the fall!! I think its easier with the fall colors, and his painting was beauriful. We were standing right near the West Carson River, which was rushing so full!! This will not be framed, either. But posting these helps me think the last thoughts about them, and put them to rest.
