McNair Farm
9×12 inches
Oil on panel
©2016 Lucinda Howe
$295

Another cloudy day. Sigh.

After a week of rain, an overcast day was an improvement. But I would have preferred a sunny day for a plein air excursion. The contrast of sun and shadow defines forms and adds drama to a painting. I heard grumbling from other painters about how hard it was to capture the soft light. However, our group had been invited to visit the McNair farm near Winnsboro, SC with a charming old house, numerous outbuildings, an old commissary, and a vegetable garden. I wasn’t about to waste the opportunity to paint in an unusual place.

I selected a view that included some very healthy tomato plants in front of a farm shed. I liked the shapes, but the colors were dull…green with gray-brown and rust. Since I like saturated colors, I wanted to see how far I could push the local colors while maintaining the limited value range of a cloudy day. I started on a red ground as usual with a predominantly green color scheme in mind.   I introduced complementary red-purple on the roof and damp bare earth. On a cloudy day, highlights are cool and the soft shadows are warm, so I used a dark orange for the pinestraw under the tomato plants. I chose blue for the weathered building and used muted light blue-greens for the distant trees.

During critique, the group noted that I had the tree and inside of the shed too dark, so I made a few adjustments in the studio today. Overall, it was a good experience to paint in circumstances I might not have chosen and get feedback from the group.