DAY 9 A PASSIVE FOREGROUND

The Parting Day | Pastel | 6x6

This farmstead is familiar to so many Northern California painters. It lies on a little connector road to enter the town of Petaluma in Sonoma County. I've wanted to paint it for years and today seemed like the perfect day to give it a try. I will probably use this small study for a larger painting of it in the future as there's so much I like about it - the interesting shapes of the barns and out-buildings, the ubiquitous (to our region) eucalyptus stand, and perhaps, most interesting, the passive foreground.  Studying with Terry Muira has taught me how one can be a real asset to emphasizing the more exciting features, just like using grays to make the brights pop.

Process: Fisher 400 paper again, with an underpainting except in the sky where the papers natural yellow color was perfect.