MIXING IT UP!!

HAASTRECHT, NETHERLANDS

I am usually not inspired to paint landscapes except when I travel.  This was a scene  from our boat trip on the waterways from Amsterdam to Brugge earlier this summer.  Nice that the camera records where you are when you take the shot,  otherwise I wouldn't know this was from the village of Haastecht, which is very near Gouda.  The long, narrow canvas was a challenge.  I had to create a more simplified and interesting foreground than in the photo.   I also enjoyed the challenge of mixing various greens.   Mixing it up by using a different canvas proportion, different perspective and unexpected greens created a personal vision for a landscape.

There are at least two other paintings underneath this one.  I lose track sometimes as to what lies beneath!  Nice to finally feel satisfied and I can move on.  Eventually they all find a satisfying finished painting, but lots and lots of false starts.  The build up does make for an interesting surface.  This one has a coat of gesso that I used a sponge roller over the top.  When it dried, it had a very rough finish.  Paint scumbles beautifully on this surface but it chews up brushes so don't use good sable on this type of surface.

With every painting, I try to learn something new.   I explored surface and color mixing and think I have added to my ongoing attempt to master painting in acrylic. How boring it would be to know it all.    Fortunately, there is always something new to learn.