Around the Corner

I had posted this last week but decided even though I knew the tree was leaning toward the sun, in real life, it looks better in the painting to have it growing straight. I worked on it a bit more and was able to photograph it to re-post.

Around the Corner,  oil on canvas,  8" X 6",  ©2015, Nancy Van Blaricom

I thought it might be interesting to see how I came about painting this little scene.

I took the reference photo while we were coming home from shopping one day last fall.  Just as we were about to turn a corner I saw this setting.  I liked seeing the sun on the distant trees and the dark of the shade in the nearby trees.

In the bottom photos you see my studies from January .

I did thumbnail pencil sketch and immediately decided that I had centered the tree.  Then the oil study. I didn't do much better with the tree but I did like the varying heights that made the composition better.

From here I remembered what I liked about the scene in the first place, which was the sun in the distance and the shade in the foreground.

Maybe it was the journey I took to get to the end results, but,  I'm happy with this one.