The Edge of Summer

Greetings all,

Just a short post today.

Seems I spent a lot of the early part of 2013 revising paintings I'd done in 2012. I've talked a lot about the reasons why in my blog this year. 

 "Edge of Summer" (8x10) by M Francis McCarthy

So, all I'll say in this post that the main reason for all this rework was: a greater ability to see things in my work that needed addressing, a greater desire to revisit and correct paintings and also embracing of imagination as the driving force behind what I do as an artist.

About halfway through that process, I began developing a new arc of work that reflected my deeper understanding of the landscape in painting.

"Edge of Summer" (5x7) by M Francis McCarthy

When I first started Oil painting I would go out and take pictures with my Canon Powershot and then pretty much just render those photos in oil paint on wood. That was fine for quite awhile and I would take some artistic liberties while painting.

These days I still prepare photos for reference but they are composed from multiple sources and imagination starts and ends the process. While painting from this reference I will use what is good or even abandon entire passages if needed to get the painting right. 

This leads us to todays painting "Edge of Summer" I'm showing both the 5x7 and 8x10 versions here. I finished the 5x7 a few moths back and the 8x10 last week. Both are painted on textured boards though the 5x7 is more heavily textured.

I'm really happy with these paintings and this motif also. I may go on to do a larger version one day. For now I'm painting lot's of 8x10's and 8x8's and I'm pretty content at those smaller sizes.

BTW I just photographed  "Edge of Summer" last night. That's an involved process that I'll be blogging about in the future.

Cheers,

A bit more about  "Edge of Summer" I liked the verticalness of the cypress trees. The inverted "L" shape they create with the field is the focus of the painting. The stream at the bottom leads the eye into this backwards "L" 

The 8x10 has a smoother texture but is still textured. I'm really noticing how this affects my painting right now as I'm back on smooth boards after months of painting on either an existing painting or on a board that I've textured prior to painting