I painted this tonite, from a beautiful photograph of a verdant countryside. I quickly sketched a drawing in burnt umber and rapidly filled in planes of color, almost like a Rothko painting. This was a particularly challenging project, as when I worked with colors more, the difference in color was able to adequately express spatial relationships. Now, I had to rely on subtle shade differences of greens to establish depth. I tried to divide the stage into three major parts - foreground, background and a blue green middle ground. I was careful not to make the greens that were too bright gaudily yellow, or to dull them with whites. I added reds to the sky, to create a rain filled overcast day. Yet the sun does poke through , and I sparingly sprinkled on highlights and dappled the field with brilliant color. In the remote distance, a white steeple church can be seen, reminiscent of the Baptist churches I saw in the North Fork.
