Unlike most of the landscapes I've done this year, I painted this one in the studio. I painted the sky with a slightly red bias to contrast with the green grey of the barn (which in reality is white) and that enabled me to paint the shadows under the eaves of the roof with a purplish tone. For most of the year I've been playing around with greys mixed from viridian and alizarin crimson and this color scheme fit nicely with that palette. I hesitated to make the lower walls of the barn that muddy brown where the cows have rubbed against the paint, but in the end it was a nice way to have the presence of the cows felt without them actually being in the picture.
Out in the Field, Oil on linen, 16"x20". 2013.