Day 4 and Final, copy after "Cottage Scenery" by George Caleb Bingham

I actually finished this and turned in my permit last Thursday, but I forgot to take a photo of it in the museum. Copyist rules say that the painting can't be removed from the Gallery on the same day it is completed, so I brought it home yesterday and photographed it in my studio. Here is the completed copy:

I'm aware of things that aren't correct - I didn't catch the correct gesture of the figure on the left, leaning against the fence, my colors are brighter, etc. But as I've said before, I'm "copying", not "making a copy". I don't expect my painting to be identical to the original, but I do it just for the experience of copying. I don't think too much while painting (once I get the proportions down), but I learn so much by mixing the pigments I have to try to match the colors of the original. When I do my own landscape paintings outdoors, I usually include buildings in my compositions, which is why I chose to copy this painting. Man made structures make the natural landscape more interesting to me.

Bingham used atmospheric perspective as well as scale to create great depth. The trees in the distance and behind the roof are much lighter in value and are painted flatly. This is something that I suspect will show up more in my own paintings when I'm out there. Things I've copied tend to influence the way I see when I'm painting my own work.

I'm now taking a hiatus from copying until the Fall. I'm going to travel to eastern Canada to paint on Deer Island, off the coast of New Brunswick. I don't know yet what my next copy will be, but I'll see you in the Fall!

Click the image for a larger view