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| 'Fisherman's Paradise - Early Morning' by Alice Kelsey (finished painting) |
I've just finished this oil painting of a famous trout stream (Spring Creek), and thought I'd share a bit about the experiences along the way. Here's some photos and descriptions of the pastel which I created on location, and the stages which the oil painting based on the pastel went through.
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| Initial pastel, created on site |
It was early morning on a chilly spring day when fellow artist Jeanne McKinney and I arrived on the banks of Spring Creek at Fisherman's Paradise (between Bellefonte and State College). This is a well-know, hallowed place for flyfishermen, where large numbers of healthy brown trout reside year-round, and are pretty challenging to catch! This was among the first places where Jeanne and I painted in the year-long stream painting project which is culminating in an exhibition at the Bellefonte Art Museum which opens in one week (May 5)! Standing on the bank, I liked the arc of the stream in to the distance and the rhythms of the big tree shapes, set off with backlighting. I described the experience of painting this pastel in an earlier blog post (see the
March 21, 2012) As I painted, a flyfisherman appeared along the distant bank, studying the water, and I added a suggestion of his form in the distance.
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| Initial oil underpainting of 'Fisherman's Paradise - Early Morning. |
After returning to the studio, I liked the composition, yet felt a need
for a larger 'scale' (size) to fit the feel of the scene. I chose oil
paint, to be able to work with thick and thin paint, and transparent
colors in capturing the atmosphere of this place- the feeling of the cool spring morning, and mystery of the stream moving away to the
distance. The above photo shows the initial lay-in, where I 'm
establishing the basic composition
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| Early workings of 'Fisherman's Paradise - Early Morning' |
Next I started to lay in some color, searching out the lovely, fresh colors of early spring greens.
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| More color added to 'Fisherman's Paradise - Early Morning' |
The above photo shows the painting about mid-way through, with basic shapes and colors established. The main alteration to the finished work (top photo at beginning of post) was lightening the foreground stream, and darkening the left background trees.
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| Initial pastel and final oil |
And here they are together, the plein air pastel, and finished oil painting! The oil painting can be seen at my joint exhibition ('Water Ways- Paintings by Alice Kelsey and Jeanne McKinney') at the Bellefonte Art Museum. I welcome you to come to the reception (May 5, 1 - 4:30 pm), and would enjoy talking with you more about this work and others! See my website
www.alicekelsey.com for info. about the show.
