I went back to work on those mountains again, trying to match the color and value. It looks pretty close to me in real life in the Gallery, but doesn't look at all the same in the photo!
I happened to pick a very popular painting, and two school field trips came through in quick succession before I even had a chance to get started. One of the tour guides got me involved in a Q&A with the students. They had some very good questions and I didn't mind. This was how it looked when I went to lunch.
After lunch, I worked here and there on the rest of the painting. I put in more darks, and starting working on the big tree from the bottom up. I put the little figure in, but left his head off for now. At around 3, I totally ran out of steam and just stopped painting for the day. I forgot to photograph it up in the Gallery, and took this picture down in the copyists' locker room. The lighting in there is fluorescent and looks much different than upstairs in the museum.
As always, click on the image for a larger view.
My iphone was close to dead, and I knew I wouldn't be able to listen to the audiobook I've been listening to ("Orange is the New Black"), so I bought a very cheap sketch book and a clever ball-point pen that looks like a tube of paint (!) in the National Gallery bookstore so I could draw on the Metro on the way home.
I think I've finally gotten back in the groove of going to the National Gallery every week. This morning it was snowing, and pretty chilly and windy. They called it "flurries", but it was more of a snow squall -I couldn't see the Capitol from two blocks away. I'm ready for spring!
