Sunday Afternoon

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon today in Sacramento.  Hot and beautiful as the summer always is here; however I was at loose ends until I remembered the July Challenge! in the Southwest forum on Wetcanvas.com.   Sure enough there were some great pictures to choose from this month.  One was this old place located in O'Donnell Texas. I'll have to look that up on Google Earth.  I'm not sure what part of Texas it is...although it sure looks like West Texas...maybe even Judge Roy Bean country!  Anyway, I can't resist these old shacks! When I see them in person, I can't help but think about the lives that were lived there. I got the photo on my iPad and went out to the studio. I painted for about an hour, went off to do some yard work and shopping, then returned for about another hour to work on the already setting first coats. (In the dry heat, the oil really sets quick...and I was using Liquin today too.)

Here's the photo uploaded by Kay of the Southwest Forum.  She had several good pictures to choose from this month.  (I hope she doesn't mind me using here photo here.  Here's a link to Kay's fantastic blog (http://kaysmithbrushworks.blogspot.com/)
as a bit of a thank you!)

Shack in O'Donnell Texas   Oil on 8" x 16" panel

I picked an oblong canvas because I wanted to put some prairie behind the little shack and create a sense of space and, of course, loneliness.  (There's actually about another 2" of the painting on the right, which shows in the preview, but not in the final post.  Agggghhh... I think it does a lot to give a feeling of vastness and emptiness.  Here's a smaller size to show you what I mean..)

I moved the Yucca plant (tree??)  and added a window and door to the exposed face of the cabin.  (Love those tall skinny windows!)  I made the Yucca the focal point which then hopefully leads one to the more complicated cabin.  I exaggerated the roof lines intentionally to add a bit more drama.  I like the way it came out...and I was glad that I decided to get out into the studio and make it a Painting Day, as my Artist Friend Ruth Andre says on her blog ( http://ruthandre.com/blog ). It was a good Sunday all around.