House in Glen Echo

I've been neglecting my blog! But that's because the weather has been great, and I'm inspired once again, and I've been painting. Here are two versions of a picture done last week on scene in the beautiful community of Glen Echo. The picture on the left was taken as I finished it on the easel and I'm afraid is a little too washed out. The picture on the right was taken after I made some changes to it back in the studio.

The challenge of this picture was the screen porch with wooden slats. The light was hitting the slats and parts were in shadow, part in light. There was also a great fire hydrant in front, that I liked a lot. I had a few too many competing interests!

I've been reading the book Mastering Composition by Ian Roberts (North Light, 2008), which I highly recommend. Included with the book is a DVD where he shows a number of paintings where he changes the color intensity in various parts of the picture to show how it would distract from the center of interest.

Thinking about this, I realized that the bright, light green that I had used on the slats was distracting from the hydrant in the foreground and the window at top. I decided to leave the upper window trim in the green, but changed the slats to a light violet, and the light on the hydrant from violet to green. What a difference! The house immediately receded where I wanted it to, while still reading as a house in light and shadow. I probably still have competing centers of interest, but I think that the reds of the crepe myrtle bring the eye immediately to the top windows.

This isn't a great painting, but I thought it would be fun to share!

Jean