DIARY OF A LANDSCAPE PAINTER 2

Country Lane-oil on canvas

  Here is a small landscape painted from a tiny note on a scrap of paper.

What struck me about this scene was the composition, and that is what I recorded. It represents a scene in Spring, not Summer.

If you are concerned about the problem of green in a landscape then it is something you will have to think about in Summer, at least in the UK. But even in Summer not everything is a heavy, dull green. It is true that the delicacy has gone.But grasses appear in many different colours by the roadside or at the edge of fields. They can be pink, or greyish green, or just a faded,bleached, sandy colour. Also, be sure to try to look at the colour you do see with an unbiased eye. I was out in the country  the other day and the undersides of some sycamore leaves had a slightly blue cast to to them.Exaggerate this if you wish. Remember also that, first of all, you are making a painting. Countless artists have said this before me but it remains true.The picture has it's own laws and  necessities.