"The Creek at Brown Ranch"

A Painting of "The Creek at Brown Ranch"

The Brown Family commissioned a painting of the creek bed

on their ranch.  Many photos were provided of the creek and the

surrounding area with Texas foliage, wildflowers, trees and rocks.

The painting was an acrylic on canvas, approximately 3,1/2' x 6'. 

The custom made canvas

was delivered to the Brown's home in the Fort Worth area. 

 My husband, Phil and I  picked it up,

and the boxed canvas just fit in Phil's pick up bed.

I set up the canvas in my art studio which is the formal

dining area and living room of our house which I use for my studio.

  The canvas took up about 8 feet of work space. It was across from

the bay window which gave me a lot of light on the canvas as I painted it.

I set to work painting and it took me

about 2 months to complete in between teaching

art classes, family activities and church..  I have painted murals on walls

before so I approached this large canvas like a mural..

The progression of the painting process is pictured below.

A photo of the creek and surrounding area to be painted 

Beginning value sketch with tree placement, horizon tree line

and creek with surrounding rocks

Sky, trees, grass areas, meadow in mid ground and

rocks beginning to develop

Foreground trees and shadows added

Finished Left side of painting, trees, water, rocks, wild flowers, cactus

with three wild turkey in the meadow and a 10 point buck

in the far background

Finished Center of painting with creek bed, water, rocks

wild flowers and trees

Finished right side of painting with 2 quail, rocks

trees, more cactus and wild flowers

After a trip to the framer, the painting was transported by van

and delivered to its

new home over the fireplace of the

Brown's Ranch House.

This painting was quite a challenge and a very

fulfilling experience. I hope it will be enjoyed by the

Brown family and their friends for a long time.

Thank you to the Browns for their vision and all their input and

photos of their land that helped me envision the scene

and successfully paint it.

Hope you enjoyed this post, comments are always appreciated.

Please share my blog with your family and friends.

Thank you,

Margie Whittington

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/margie-whittington-297/artwork

WATERCOLOR IN PROGRESS

Goose

by

Margie Whittington

This is a painting from a photograph I took on the river in

Boerne, Texas. After drawing the image, I put a blue wash on

the background and layed saran wrap on the wet wash.

After letting the saran set a minute, I lifted it and the

texture left looks like the motion in the water.

See the photo below.

After painting the water, I began painting the dark beak

and the dark on the feathers. Then I painted the

midtones and light feathers leaving the white paper for

the white high lights on the goose.

The next step, I began painting the

reflection of the goose in the water. I still have

some to do on this step.

Be sure to come back and see the finished painting.

This painting was also a class project at the Upstairs Gallery

in Arlington, Texas. I will be posting some of my students

paintings soon.

http://www.margiewhittington.com/

http://www.upstairsartgallery.com/

http://www.canvasbycanvas.com/

http://www.artistfoodnetwork.blogspot.com/