Retreat Field

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

This is a more completed version of my last post. As you can see I dropped in a figure looking towards the distant hills, as I thought the picture was lacking a focal point. The foreground has become darker and cooler as the individual is looking ahead into the distant light after exiting the woods. Making all of the various marks in the foreground I found very exciting to work on. For me they describe the season and time of day and give direction to the painting. This area has the most abstract shapes within it as I used a larger brush with greater pigment.

Getting the figure right took some effort as I drew on trace paper various figures and debated adding a dog to the left of the man. One of the critical decisions was how big to make the figure and thus, how much detail to include. I do like the man's posture and his clothing, plus how he is facing toward the other side of the field.

One of the qualities I was after in this picture was the way the late sun at this time year washes across the edge of the woods, a glow before the sun goes down.