Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Leaves, Roots and Black Gesso

The leaves are changing and it is starting to look gorgeous! This is a bit of the colour I saw today. Fabulous, yes? Wow, does nature ever give us a show. THANK YOU trees!
So walking through the woods, I came across an embankment and the twisted, exposed roots from the trees grabbed my attention. I've always found the shapes they create so intriguing. I had a canvas that I had prepped with black gesso and began my work on that. It's the first time I've used black gesso. Kind of cool but I found I really had to be thoughtful about my darks. I definitely didn't want to rely on the black as my dark because I think it can look dead. So I mixed up some deep dark paint to work with.
Here is a detail. I will be developing/finishing the rest tomorrow. And I can't wait to dive back in! I love it when you get the feeling that you just want to to paint non-stop.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the feel of this piece.
Stay inspired!

William Ternay Jr said...

WOW! Kim; you have taken the "painting of root systems" to a new HIGH. I also have always been fascinated by Mother Nature's fun in creating root systems.

JanettMarie said...

Thanks for the reminder!
Thank you Mother Nature!

Barbara Muir said...

I love this. Black gesso? Is that pre-prepared or a black ground? I love how light colours flash off a black ground. It's great for white. Beautiful painting. You are on a roll.

XO Barbara