Friday, July 3, 2015

Tournament for the 4th!

We were at Farnsworth Park to paint recently.  I was just there a few months ago and had a nice morning painting Farnsworth Park.  I wondered if maybe I could find some shade to paint the front of the impressive 1934 arts and crafts building.  There was shade across the street but it looked like cars would soon be parking and blocking my view.  Our inspiring leader, Barbara, mentioned the festive bunting decorating the fence of the baseball field for the 4th of July.  I try to paint a view that's descriptive of our plein air location but Barbara's mention of the bunting kept taking over my thoughts.  OK, the 4th would be in a few days and I like to do a 4th blog post...Perfect.  

A Little League tournament was going on and several play-offs were scheduled so there was a lot of action that morning.  Fun to watch and listen to while painting.  My painting was not fun though.  I decided to try using gouache on hot press paper which has a smooth surface.  I usually paint on cold press paper which has a rougher surface.  The hot press paper gave me a very hard time until I built up some paint layers to give it some "tooth".  Lesson learned!  Have a happy 4th of July!


5" x 7" Gouache


        

12 comments:

  1. I just love this. Happy 4th of July.

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  2. I love this, so different. Happy 4 July to you too.

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  3. Sherry, you gave this some tooth and bite! This one is a real winner. I absolutely love it. So patriotic. Happy 4th!

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  4. This is a very complicated painting to pull off - and that batters cage is something else. Yes, I remember your frustration with the hot press.

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    1. Thanks Liz! Yes, you heard my frustration...I almost had to leave!

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  5. I like the vertical Cyprus running up off the right top of the painting, good composition. And you always add figures in just the correct, believable way, good painting, Sherry.
    Jody

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    1. Thank you Jody! I was feeling better when the cyprus trees started working out OK.

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