Evolution of a Work - 'Summer Morning, Farm Lane'

I really like the atmosphere of a hazy, early morning in August that comes through in this pastel.  The place is also special to me- it is a few miles from where I grew up in Chester County, Pennsylvania.  I had returned to my 'homeland' on a painting expedition, wanting to connect with some of the beauty of that area, which certainly led me to be an artist.

'Summer Morning, Farm Lane' - completed
(collection of Linda and Dave Miller)

For a week straight, I got up with the sun and painted all day.  This particular scene presented a practical challenge, because I only had a limited set of pastels with me, and could not find the full value and temperature range of colors that were crucial to the painting.  I had the correct colors in oil paints with me, but did not have a canvas of the right proportions for the composition that I wanted.  So I decided to do an underpainting on pastel paper, establishing the values and drawing the full composition.  The spacing  between the trees I also felt was really important, and I paid careful attention to the drawing aspect in this underpainting.  After completing this underpainting on pastel paper, I then also painted a second oil sketch (on canvas) to establish the correct colors - I could only include part of the composition due to the shape of the canvas.

"Summer Morning, Farm Lane' Oil Sketch
(collection of Tim Kelsey)

In this full color plein air oil sketch, I really wanted to capture the strong dark shadow masses in the trees, contrasting with the bright, sun lit area.  The greens in the ground area also differed greatly in temperature and value as they receded into the background, and I really wanted to get these right because they were so important to the atmosphere.  I ended up liking this sketch as a finished work.

After returning to the studio, I followed up on the studies I'd done outside, and using the oil on canvas as a color reference, I returned to the monochromatic painting on paper and applied pastel over the oil.  I'm really pleased with having found a way to get the spacing of the trees and colors as I wanted them in the finished work.  It really did take some improvising on the spot!

If you compare the two paintings, you'll see that the pastel's composition includes more of the scene to the left.