Mina

[Grapes]

"Mina", oil on canvas board, 30x40 cm.
Painted from my own photo. The greens were challenging. Also had hard time deciding what to add to the front area as it's just grass and some rocks; maybe should have added a burro there. (It only occurred to me now when writing this.) The village full name is Villanueva del Rio y Minas and it's located in Andalucia, Spain.

I also did a quick study for an alla prima challenge of this peculiar bridge. Oil on oilpaper, 18x24 cm.
(Sorry for the blurry photo)

 

[Joy]

Absolutely beautiful! Wonderful colors and overall effect. Trees frame the bridge well.

 

[Donna T]

I agree with Joy! You did such good work on these, Grapes! Foregrounds are so difficult because we need to put things there but we don’t want viewers to spend much time there. You have a beautiful variety of greens and textures too. I like the fresh feel of the study very much!

 

[Enyaw]

That's a lot of material for an artist to take in. Good job. Maybe you should reverse your thinking and think what can I leave out.

 

[Grapes]

Thanks so much Joy, Donna and Wayne!

I might repeat painting another one of this scene next winter. I feel my painting is kinda busy and too sharp edges in many places. Ha, I had a big fight with the front area grass, returned several times to paint it and finally decided it's done, time to move on.

 

[snoball]

Excellent work!

 

[Grapes]

Thank you, Sno!

 

[Donna T]

I’ve been thinking about what you said about sharp edges when working from photos, Grapes, because I really fight them too. I’m going to try to blur my photos next time to see if it helps. Maybe I can decide where the edges should be sharp - not the camera.

 

[JennieJo]

So glad you gave us a close-up of the bridge. The picture you've painted captures something special. Wonderful.