Treating Complex Landscapes As Color Fields

Recently I was visiting Talbot Island by boat with my friend on the Now and Zen Sailing Charter.  We landed temporarily at the North Florida Land Trust house and grounds there, and witnessed this wonderful sunset scene upon returning to the boat.



Below: I took this photo while there and in the Reddi Arts watercolor class, I decided it would be a great object lesson to simplify complex landscape references into larger multi-color fields.

Treating it this way allows you to capture the feeling of the light at that hour without getting lost in the details of the trees.


My sketch on the white board was to illustrate the loose composition I am targeting.



So here are the steps I used to get there.
First a color wash in yellows for the light, I skipped the drawing, you'll see why, this takes practice and confidence, and knowledge of the structures of palm trees.

After that dries I glazed in other pinks and blues to give vibrant colors, glazes work better than mixing them on the palette.  I used salt into wet color in the background tree areas to simulate detail.

Now here I do the "drawing" direct with a light application of color to indicate in 

peach orange where the trees will go, working fast and trying to keep the areas wet 

so as to add color directly into the tree structures. 

The finished product!

For a look at other fine art by Gordon Meggison, go to www.gordonmeggison.com