Peaceful, sunny spring afternoons have a quality about them that warrant trying to capture in oil paint. “June Grass” was my attempt at trying to render peace in paint.

This was one of those pieces that seemed to paint itself. I started at the top and worked to the bottom several times to achieve the look and feel I sought.  The color palette is straightforward and pretty much kept to three mass tones of purple (sky), deep blue (background) and yellowish green (foreground). It’s the play of one complementary color off the other that I use to make a more compelling scene. Key to me were the contrasts described as well as contrast of light and dark and bulky (barn) versus light (open branch tree).

I also used the winding drive motif to draw viewers into the picture. In this case it’s to find out what’s in the barn. I suspect a collection of vintage cars or old tractors. I’ll never know.