Middle Stage of the Triptych

It has been my experience that the middle stages of creating a painting are scary, or at the very least, messy.  I have wanted to stop everything and simply quit a painting sometimes when the going got rough in the middle, but I found that if I soldiered on, the painting would resolve itself as it neared completion.

 

Here is the middle stage of the Denali triptych.  Colors appear random.  Shapes are indefinite.   The mountain range looks more like the gentle hills of the Blue Ridge Parkway in the eastern United States than jagged Alaskan peaks.  The paint is applied thinly with a brush.  I will not be deterred.  I am laying in the basic shapes and working all over the three canvases.  Lingering too long over one area or one canvas will result in an over worked piece.  Yep, this is the messy middle stage.

I keep things handy.  The red step-stool lets me work on upper parts of canvases without having to readjust easels

 

I always like my palette better than what's on the canvas!  I keep brushes soaking in water tray so the acrylic paint won't dry on the bristles.

 

Another shot of what is going on.

 

Distant fields and trees have sprouted!

 

 

As I continue to work I will be adding thicker paint and definite, dramatic definition to various sections.  Flowers will bloom, water will sparkle, shadows will create the illusion of light and mountains will grow ridges.  I'm looking forward to that.