K-Bales : 2022-10

K-Bales

02 October 2022

Acrylic on canvas

20" x 16"

- FOR SALE -

I hadn't painted in a while so it was time to get after it. The vision was a Nebraska-ish scene. Something akin to "Nebraska Bales" which I had painted 27 years prior (in 1995) in watercolor. The inspiration is essentially the same - the large bales that can dominate an otherwise featureless plain. 

For this painting, I wanted to force myself to go bold while reducing my effort to 'control' all the lines and details. That effort started with the sky. If I'm not mistaken, it was kind of a first for me. The application was so wet, the acrylic essentially behaved like watercolor. And to my objective of relaxing some control, I let the paint do it's magic, didn't 'over paint', and left it alone. I was pleasantly surprised with the result. Moreover, I was also able to step away and not try to finish the painting the same day.

The sky (12 September 2022) sat untouched for almost 20 days. There were a couple reasons for this. First, I was happy with this sky and wanted whatever was to share it to be worthy of sharing it. Second, I had just begun constructing my own easel (Easel Art : 2022-09), and I wanted to use it to finish this painting. It was to be the easel's maiden painting. If you look at the easel, you'll see the K-Bales' sky in one of the photos.

02 October 2022 - with my new easel finished and no longer having an excuse to leave the sky alone, I had to put in the bales. There was some slight trepidation but the objective was bold and less control. I threw in the first pile of bales, liked them more than I thought I would, and added the second stack. After over two weeks, the painting was finished that afternoon. I purposely cut off the first stack to leave a sense of wonder as to how many bales are out there.

Here is K-Bales with both stacks and framed. It's not fancy, but I made the frame to get practice making frames. I was pleased with this painting. I thought the bales contrasted the sky very well and loved the shade in the grass. I could have gone darker on the shaded side of the bales, but once they were in, I liked it as it was. I think I met my objectives.

Back to Miscellany Gallery or the Store.

- mm -