Field of Cactus - Fix It Friday #24

Field of Cactus, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2020

Texas cactus! It's beautiful, especially when it blooms and... it's very invasive. Once it gets started, it just duplicates itself over and over. If an "ear" falls off, stick it in the ground and it will happily survive, grow, and spread!! All that to say, my fix today is all about better depicting ranch land full of propagated cactus. 

BEFORE

AFTER

CHANGES

Problem - Layers of cactus were not "laying down" on the picture plane.

Fix - Created a definitive scale shift from front to back, making layers incrementally smaller as they move into the distance. 

Fix - Muted layers incrementally as they recede.

Problem - Field just didn't have enough cactus!! 

Fix - Added another layer of cactus at the fence line.

Problem - Overcast sky was lack-luster in color and interest.

Fix - Intensified the purplish color that was there and popped the bit of light. 

OBSERVATIONS

Working with elements in the landscape to push them into the distance is a great challenge. Today's fix was a wonderful exercise in doing just that... scale shift, atmospheric perspective, overlapping, and layering were all used here. 

Ever Expanding

Ever Expanding, 18x24, oil on canvas, L. Daniel © 2019

SOLD

This scene is classic Texas Hill Country. Cactus families here are very prolific and once they get established, they just take off (or they take over, however you want to look at it!) I spotted this meadow from my car, and something about the light, and the fence, the the sunlit grasses made me stop the car and go back. I was actually heading home at the end of a painting day, so I couldn't set up my easel. BUT... I do believe this is what that iPhone camera is for! ;)

WORKSHOP INFO:

Fall Plein Air Workshop at Contemporary Austin Art School, Nov. 8-9, 2019

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