Bulls Bridge Oil Painting Steps

A long, long time ago while living in the northeast a place between Kent and Gaylordsville, Connecticut I would visit a favorite resting spot for travelers. On the west side of Kent Road stretching over the waters of the Housatonic River is Bulls Bridge. I wanted to do an artwork of those times. If you ever get a chance to visit this a great place to relax.

For obtaining an art reference photo on this art subject I was able to climb down to an area near the waters edge by following a pathway while carefully stepping over some large boulders. Fortunately I got a good photograph that looks up at Bulls Bridge which has harmonic proportion points in it. There may be a little adjusting in some of the harmonic points but I still feel that this is a fine artist reference image to create an artwork from. At some time this artwork had gotten misplaced with the many other artworks I was completing. I had begun painting Bulls Bridge on an eighteen by twenty-four inch canvas many years ago and at some point I'd gotten side tracked to other artworks.

The light blue background sky that was created by brushing on Thalo Blue and Cobalt Blue with a Titanium White mixture. Looking at the composition I see there are some adjustments that needs to be done to the bridge structure, placement of some boulders and the edge of the river waterline. I like to pencil corrections in while also drawing in the placements of the trees rising from the river banks. All in all a wonderful foundation is set for a wonderful artist composition.

Second Session in Painting. Sky, Water and River Edge Rocks.

Thalo Blue and Titanium White was mixed again together to brighten the sky some more. You can notice the change in color between the second and third pictures. Near the bridge roof and near the horizon line Indian Yellow was blended in. I painted with this color to set up a tree color base hue.

Alizarin Crimson and Viridain was mixed to create a gray color to use through out the painting for shading. Without toning it down with a bit of white it appears as a dark rich color. I find it to be a better color to use then Ivory Black from the artist tube. This mixture I brushed on near the river's edge to define the water line. Then from this water line with Cobalt Blue along with some white I brushed in the river area. Adding the Cobalt Blue keeps the lighting from the sky consistent on the elements of the composition. Light from the sky is always reflected on everything in real life so it's a good principle to follow. This is especially true if your one who paints to achieve realism in your artworks.

For the boulders along the river bank I used the same mixture of colors. Alizarin Crimson blended with Viridain is painted in for the dark cracks in the stones and the shadows. Titanium White was used with this mix along with Cobalt Blue to lighten the stones surface areas. Added colors where Indian Yellow and Alizarin Crimson that makes parts of the surface look brownish when the Cobalt Blue interacts with these colors.

It's an interesting effect that takes place in that the boulders are pushing the bridge image further back into the painting. Being that the boulders a so large and have a perspective about them. In unison from the bottom right side of the canvas the rocks point to the bridge leading the eye to it.

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	A long, long time ago while living in the northeast a place between Kent and Gaylordsville, Connecticut I would visit a favorite resting spot for travelers. On the west side of Kent Road stretching over the waters of the Housatonic River is Bulls Bridge. I wanted to do an artwork of those times. If you ever get a chance to visit this a great place to relax. For obtaining an art reference photo on this art subject I was able to climb down to an area near the waters edge by following a pathway while carefully stepping over some large boulders. Fortunately I got a good photograph that looks up at Bulls Bridge which has harmonic proportion points in it. There may be a little adjusting in some of the harmonic points but I still feel that this is a fine artist reference image to create an artwork from. At some time this artwork had gotten misplaced with the many other artworks I was completing. I had begun painting Bulls Bridge on an eighteen by twenty-four inch canvas many years ago and at some point I'd gotten side tracked to other artworks. The light blue background sky that was created by brushing on Thalo Blue and Cobalt Blue with a Titanium White mixture. Looking at the composition I see there are some adjustments that needs to be done to the bridge structure, placement of some boulders and the edge of the river waterline. I like to pencil corrections in while also drawing in the placements of the trees rising from the river banks. All in all a wonderful foundation is set for a wonderful artist composition. Second Session in Painting. Sky, Water and River Edge Rocks. Thalo Blue and Titanium White was mixed again together to brighten the sky some more. You can notice the change in color between the second and third pictures. Near the bridge roof and near the horizon line Indian Yellow was blended in. I painted with this color to set up a tree color base hue. Alizarin Crimson and Viridain was mixed to create a gray color to use through out the painting for shading. Without toning it down with a bit of white it appears as a dark rich color. I find it to be a better color to use then Ivory Black from the artist tube. This mixture I brushed on near the river's edge to define the water line. Then from this water line with Cobalt Blue along with some white I brushed in the river area. Adding the Cobalt Blue keeps the lighting from the sky consistent on the elements of the composition. Light from the sky is always reflected on everything in real life so it's a good principle to follow. This is especially true if your one who paints to achieve realism in your artworks. For the boulders along the river bank I used the same mixture of colors. Alizarin Crimson blended with Viridain is painted in for the dark cracks in the stones and the shadows. Titanium White was used with this mix along with Cobalt Blue to lighten the stones surface areas. Added colors where Indian Yellow and Alizarin Crimson that makes parts of the surface look brownish when the Cobalt Blue interacts with these colors. It's an interesting effect that takes place in that the boulders are pushing the bridge image further back into the painting. Being that the boulders a so large and have a perspective about them. In unison from the bottom right side of the canvas the rocks point to the bridge leading the eye to it.