Finishing the unfinished

Pen&Ink, watercolor on 8'x16" Arches cold press.

This is a piece I just finished today. I started it on location almost 2 weeks ago but the weather of Chicago defeated me this time. This is what I did on location. A placement of big pencil shapes on paper.

Back at home, the beginning of the painting process looked like this. It looked promising.

I used a couple of photographs that complemented each other. One was cloudy and dark with a full view and the other one was bright and sunny but partial view. It was quite frustrating not to have the view in front of me. I got caught up in confusion when referring to the photographs. Therefore I had a hard time defining values. I even had to add pure bright yellow wash to the top of trees in a desperate attempt to recover the lights I lost, the wash was so concentrated in pigment that it looked like gouache paint! In my experience adding detail can salvage a piece but this didn't work here so I stopped trying to fix it. Be the judge yourself.

Morning light, made in the studio with too many colors

Afternoon light, made on location with limited palette

To think that subtle changes make a big difference. This example is a great reminder.