Bald Cypress Newnan's Lake

[blondheim12]

20x24 inches acrylic on Birch panel

[RTT]

That's cool Linda. I like paintings that feature a single tree and this one is very unique (at least in my world and experience )

[blondheim12]

Randy, I think it is a southern thing for the most part. A lot of people love them here but in other places they think they are really weird. Thanks for the comment.
Love,
Linda

[kohnart]

Well Linda, I'm another artist "from the South"...& I just love this piece. How did you get your reference..were you sitting in a boat..

[kennychaffin]

I love this Linda!
I'm a sucker for dead trees...

[blondheim12]

Vonnie and Kenny, Thank you both so much.
Vonnie, The reference photo was given to me by a friend who fishes on the lake. Unfortunately, I have no boat.
Love,
Linda

[monticore]

Linda, I love the way you handled the tree limbs. You really brought out the trees character. Your paintings have a beautiful fresh feeling. You know I'm a fan. Great work. Joe.

[hemisavoy]

I love this Linda. You have painted all the main visual players their own way and placed them in their own place, and so much more. I always enjoy seeing your work.

Larry

[blondheim12]

Thank you Joe and Larry for the wonderful comments. I havea great fondness for trees and spend way too much time painting them. I should be painting beaches and sea oats, that's what the tourists love.
Love,
Linda

[Suetois]

Everything in moderation. Especially beaches and sea oats.

I wonder how old this tree is? It looks ancient.

If you don't mind me asking, how do you get that hint of purple in your sky? I just love that color. I think it makes the sky sing.

Sue

[blondheim12]

Sue,
I use a fairly lengthy process in my skies. The first rough in is done with cobalt and thalo blues with cobalt at the top of the sky and more thalo as it gets closer to the horizon /dash of Naples and with white mixed in.

Then I come in with a very transparent FUB glazed over the underpainting. Finally, I glaze a transparent FUB and white glaze over that.

With cloud formations I like to use a FUB Cad Orange compliment with white for shadows and Cad Orange or Naples with white for highlight. Over all of that, I glaze a transparent white to soften and push the clouds back a bit.

Love,
Linda

[Suetois]

No wonder your skies are so beautiful! They're always really striking. Thanks for taking the time to tell me about how you do it.

Sue

[blondheim12]

Sue,
You are welcome. I first learned to do that with oils, and discovered that it worked very well with acrylics too. It takes more time but it gives a luminous quality to sky work. I also use various other combinations of colors like subbing Cad red light instead of orange for highlights. OI like to pick up some land colors into the sky and vice versa. Also, depending on where the sun is effects the sky color near it or away from it, so one has to adjust for that as well.
Love,
Linda