Early Morn Lake View / Vertical © #commission #LakeAustin #360bridge

©2014 Debbi Smith Rourke

Early Morn Lake View / Vertical 40"x30" 

Oil on unstretched canvas 

Commissioned / SOLD

Last Saturday, I put the final touches on this commissioned work for a client in Ohio. She has an Austin connection and loves this view. Her interior designer is also my dear friend Kay Rasoletti. Gotta love that! They were keen on teal and burgundy colors and requested a vertical version of a prior painting of mine. The requested size was large, 40x30" plus 1.5" on each side to cover a gallery-wrapped canvas. And it had to be shipped, so I worked on loose canvas so it could be rolled and shipped in a tube. I learned many things in the process, so I thought I would share the stages. It was challenging trying to get a good photograph in my studio. I wasn't able to get a good photograph until it was finished and dry and I could carry it outside to shoot in natural light. So pardon the quality of my process photos.

 

I bought unstretched canvas and cut a size larger than my 43x33 needs, stapled it to a plywood board and created registration marks for the surface size (40"x30") and the full size.

 

I added three coats of gesso.

Next, I put in the darks and established the basic layout, and established the lighter areas.

 I added detail, mid-tone values, texture in layers, put burgundy glazes over the lower, dark hills and softened the sky.

 Preparing to roll, put in a tube and ship!

 You can get a sense of the scale when you notice the legs of my office chairs in the background.

In a tube and on its way to Ohio!!