Corner of Rolesville and Puryear Road

I came across this Tobacco field not far from my home on Rolesville Road in Northeast Raleigh. The picture was taken in late October so there were some interesting fall colors in the composition. I used some of my favorite Matisse acrylic colors to create this painting. Australian Sienna is somewhat of mix of Raw Sienna and Cadmium Orange – you see a lot of this in the field and in the center of the big tree. Some of the greens used are Australian Olive Green and Australian Sap Green – I generally avoid specialty colors like these, but the Australian series of Matisse acrylics is a real good range.

Matisse Flow paints are a thinner consistency and match the color range of the heavy body structure acrylics. I use these for glazing and for accentuating certain areas. The big shiny leaves on the tree and certain areas of the field are a combination of Flow acrylics and glazing medium. I usually apply this with applicator bottles, similar to how one might decorate a cake. This gives a neat effect that works well with things like flowing water or leaves blowing in the wind.

Corner of Rolesville and Puryear Road - 12x12" Acrylic on Canvas

Sunset Over a Wake County Tobacco Field

For the past couple of months I have really been using geometry and shapes to emphasize elements in my paintings. While I feel this experimentation has been successful, I probably have been too focused on that one aspect and subsequently have neglected other important areas. In looking at my past two paintings (Atlantic Beach and Rocky Mountain National Park) blues and greens dominate the entire surface. I don't think I squeezed one drop of red or mixed one stroke of orange or yellow in hours upon hours of painting. Hopefully my latest painting addresses this issue with a more vibrant palette of colors. The sunset over the field provides a nice contrast of the sky against the trees, while the reds, yellows and oranges give the paintings some punch with colors I do not often use.

Sunset Over a Wake County Tobacco Field - 16x20" Acrylic on Canvas