Coal Miner's Spring continues

My fractured thumb has finally gotten good enough for me to begin "Coal Miner's Spring". I began by applying the layers of green in the background and then worked on the large trunk to the left. The next layer was the yellow leaves, followed by dabs of a color called "Linen". Final dabs of lavender and turquoise were then applied to the leaves. The last thing I worked on was the large trunk on the left again.

When I first started this technique, I was not sure if all of the complimentary colors on the base layer would be covered up or if I could successfully visually blend this layer into the layer placed on to of it. I like the results.
In the photo to the left (click to enlarge), you can see some of the base lavender showing through the layers of the leaves.

Coal Miner's Spring

This photo was taken years ago during an early spring day near our local coal mine relic.

This image is going to be used as the basis for an experiment. The painting will be completed in acrylic on a 30" by 40" canvas.


I began the painting with a very simple pencil sketch of just the landmarks in the photo.

The experiment part is that a layer of complimentary colors will be applied first and then covered with the natural color. It is "iffy" as to whether this will work as acrylic "covers" the under-layers without blending. I have tried using various colors other than white as the base for acrylic paintings with some success.

The image above shows the beginning of the painting where orange is applied instead of the natural blue colors.

Below is the final version of the under-painting. It is intentionally detail sparse.

The next step will be to begin the natural colors starting with the background and building up layers.