{"id":1323,"date":"2008-12-31T13:14:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-31T13:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.johnokeefe.net\/blog\/?p=1323"},"modified":"2023-02-21T20:50:33","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T20:50:33","slug":"tutorial-summer-in-the-valley-by-john-okeefe-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.johnokeefe.net\/blog\/2008\/12\/31\/tutorial-summer-in-the-valley-by-john-okeefe-jr\/","title":{"rendered":"Tutorial “Summer in the Valley” by John O’Keefe Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Summer<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

This is my 17th oil painting. I like the effect in my painting “Just Passing Through,”<\/em> where the path leads the viewer out of the painting and into the mysterious darkness of the forest, and I want to achieve a similar sense of mystery in this painting. I hope you enjoy this tutorial “Summer in the Valley” <\/em>by John O’Keefe Jr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Composition and Materials – “Summer in the Valley”<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"Painting
“The White Mountains”<\/em> by John Kensett<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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I love “The White Mountains – Mount Washington”<\/em> by John F. Kensett. I have been attempting to incorporate his color pallet into my recent study paintings. Also, one night when I was looking through some art books, I came across another painting that caught my attention: A landscape painting with a similar composition to Kensett’s painting but with a different approach to color use. The latter painting is entitled “July Fields” by Barbara Nuss, published in the book\u00a0“14 Formulas for Painting Fabulous Landscapes”<\/em>\u00a0by Barbara Nuss.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Painting
“July Fields”<\/em> by Barbara Nuss<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Both of the above landscape paintings are beautiful and have inspired me to try some new things in this painting. I began by sketching the composition onto the canvas. You can see similar elements in my composition from the two reference paintings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

I wanted a vast sky with a lot of blue peeking through thick but bright-tipped clouds. To help achieve this, I have placed several large trees that extend above the horizon, and I want them to stand out against the sky with sharp contrast. My wife Jennifer took the perfect sky picture for this painting which I digitally edited into my reference sketch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Painting
Composition sketch by John O’Keefe Jr.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Painting
Cloud photograph by Jennifer O’Keefe
(Digitally overlaid onto sketch)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n