"December Morning in the Desert" 24x30, oil
Awhile back, I was making some adjustments to a 24x30 plein air oil that I had done on-location over three sessions. I've had a chance to look at it a bit more, and I spent some time yesterday making the finishing adjustments. Based on other pieces I've done in the same location, I realized that my values were too dark in the distant mountains. I lightened these and made them a bit cooler to push them back. In addition, I lightened some of the sunlit trees at the bottom edge of the shadowed mountains. I lightened the sky, too. I used damar retouch varnish to bring back the "wet" look of the paint before making adjustments.
Above is the finished piece. (If you compare it with the older version, the older one looks lighter; it isn't. That is an artifact of trying to increase the exposure so it would "read" properly. The latest image seems to read like the real thing.)
By the way, for those of you looking for a mentoring-style plein air painting workshop, I still have space in my March 29-April 1 workshop here in Sedona. Let me know if you're interested! It'll be springtime, and we should have some nice, early spring greens in the cottonwoods and aspens.
