"Dusk in the Vineyards," loaded in the car for the trip to the photographer • photo © 2012 Karen Lynn Ingalls
Once the painting is complete (this process sometimes takes a long time – every painting has its own timetable), it's time to be photographed. Dusk in the Vineyards is 4' square – just a tad too large for my Volvo stationwagon – but my friend Lil very kindly loaned me her van for the trip to the photographer's in Napa.
"Dusk in the Vineyards," with the photographer • photo © Karen Lynn Ingalls
Photographer Dave Courtney has a setup that can scan paintings much larger than this. He uses two large-format cameras for the scan. It's an impressive process – much more accurate than what I am able to photograph myself, and at much higher resolution.
I returned the next day for the painting and the scan, and then it was time to head back home to Calistoga, and hang the painting in Lil's store, Funke's, where it currently graces the back wall. I have to say, I do love this painting.... (You know, they're kind of like my children....)
Dusk in the Vineyards - a painting in process • © 2012 Karen Lynn Ingalls
Here's the next step in the process... adding hints of an apricot-ish color (the last traces of the sunset).... It's still got quite a ways to go.
(Note: The lower left-hand corner is a little faded in the photo, because of the reflection of the light on the canvas.)
Dusk in the Vineyards • © 2012 Karen Lynn Ingalls
I've had this big canvas (4' x 4') waiting on my easel for a while now – I've been itching to get at it. Finally I've begun! The process may look different than you might have imagined. Since it is a painting of a landscape at dusk, I wanted a dark blue underpainting. Then I draw in my composition.
Dusk in the Vineyards, in process • © 2012 Karen Lynn Ingalls
The dark (nearly black-looking) lines were the first stages of the composition, which I painted over as I refined it. You can see here I've begun to indicate the rows of the vineyards and a big more structure in the big tree.
Dusk in the Vineyards, in process • © 2012 Karen Lynn Ingalls
The next part of the process is to lay in big shapes of color. It doesn't have to be neat. Actually, it's much better if it's not. I want bits of that dark blue showing through and influencing the feeling of dusk in the painting.
Dusk in the Vineyards, in process • © 2012 Karen Lynn Ingalls
It's starting to look quite different now, isn't it? The lightness of the sky makes a considerable difference.... Notice, I'm still laying in big shapes of color, but starting to break them down into some slightly smaller shapes, particularly in the vineyard and between the rows of vines.
Dusk in the Vineyards, in process • © 2012 Karen Lynn Ingalls
Here, I'm continuing to break the bigger shapes down into smaller and smaller shapes, adding the variations within them. The most important thing is to bring the whole painting along together, and not to get obsessive about detail in any one particular place. You need to see the whole forest (or, in this case, the vineyard), not the trees (or their specifics – yet).
Here's where the painting is currently. You can see I'm continuing to develop the hill behind, the trees, and the vineyard and its rows – and I've brought a nice strong robin's egg blue color into the sky. It's not done yet, by a long shot – I'll share its progress as it develops.
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