"My Study of a Pine" - A Grungy Painted Sketch of a Montana Pine Tree

I painted this while on vacation in Montana. It was just a quick sketch which I really wanted to keep in a rather grungy style, which I felt was accomplished by the hints of burnt sienna around the edges, creating an almost "burnt edges" effect as it were. The pine, or at least what I'm assuming was a pine - I'm not exactly one of those lucky people with a green thumb. I mean, it may have been a fir or something else entirely, but my gut tells me that at the very least it was not a maple or an oak, so I'm gonna stick with pine... Lol! ANYWAYS... The pine was much harder to get down quickly than I ever would have imagined, and I had a hard time trying to figure out which parts to really spend time putting detail on and which parts to just leave as they were. It was quite the interesting challenge for me, though I must say the scenery was so beautiful that if not for the pesky little bee that kept interrupting my painting, I would have been able to work on this for hours. But instead, I had to work quickly and efficiently, and figure out which parts really mattered.

While painting, I noticed the most beautiful little bird flitting back and forth over the hillside amongst the trees. He was so gorgeous - a bright, vibrant lemon yellow and both cool and warm greys on his body to compliment him. He would have been such a little beauty to put in, but he was just way too hyper for me to possibly capture with my brush. Bummer, right? That would have been so cute. Perhaps some day I shall take the time to add him in, though I may not, as I kinda just like the "captured as it was" grungy look I have going on here.

***UPDATE - Boy, my signature sure has had a facelift recently! Not sure why this particular one ended up so, well, rounded and exaggerated, but I've learned quite recently through some very excellent advice from my husband that it's better to keep it clean and simple, and to have it look almost exactly the same EVERY SINGLE TIME so that it almost becomes an iconic image in itself. Also, it most definitely needed some work in the "keeping it subtle" department, and I've been working a lot towards making it an image that while you can still see it, you almost have to look for it because it's so gently stated in my works. So, as I've said, I've been trying to do all of this lately (it's Feb. 2013 just so you know...) and I'm really liking how clean and soft it looks now. And so rather than clean it up on my previous works like this one, which part of me has this nagging and pressing desire to do so to make sure they are all alike, I would rather keep it as a remembrance of my evolution as an artist, as well as proof of the evolution of my artistic signature as well. =D

"My Study of a Pine"     5" x 7"     Acrylic on Canvas Board