Walk in Mud Valley 3

Artist's Gallery

Coming to Life

And here is the real heart of Amish country: horse in the pasture, buggy clackety-clacking down the road, pedestrians enjoying a beautiful day. But it’s the fence I get compliments on when people look at the picture! I think it’s the sharp detail combined with a vibrant dark & light contrast. You think of a fence being only one color, but it’s really a whole range of blues. I’m more impressed with the gate myself; you can feel the light dancing on the worn, crooked bars. I had to sketch the buggy several times before I got it the right size, but it came out perfectly. I'm very pleased with the painting; I'd say at this point it's the second-best of all I've done!
Thanks to J Beachy Photography, you can see the original for this painting as well by clicking on the link. See what you think!

New! You can now purchase this painting as a greeting card here at my Countrygirl Art shop on Etsy.com!

Walk in Mud Valley 2

Artists' Gallery

Developing Shadows

I’ve done a lot of work on the pasture shadows now. The lemony highlights on the sun-filled grass make a great contrast with the dark areas. You may notice two extra shadows cast by something outside the picture. The one in the pasture is a tree, the other on the road is a barn (it’s actually in the background of “The Way Home.” This gives the picture an openness that widens your view of the scene. I’ve done a little more work on the trees (notice how it looks like you could walk under that dark, shady canopy?) and their shadows. The worn pavement marks have created a country road, well-traveled by passenger vans, turkey trucks, and buggies.

Walk in Mud Valley

Artist's Gallery

Laying the Groundwork

This painting is from the same road as my last one, in the middle of the area known as Mud Valley. It’s actually looking toward the same hill as “The Way Home,” except from the opposite direction. I started with a base layer over the 8½x11 cardstock. Then I used the scrubby brush to put in different shades of maroon, brown, goldenrod, and green on the tree area, interspersed by sepia shadows. Next, I started trying to shape the contour of the land with dark shading, especially on the ditch. I love painting hills and shadows like this, especially at evening. Can anybody spot the shadows of the future pasture fence?