Cornfield

Cornfields are everywhere around here. I passed many on my way to paint this scene the other day. I was hoping to paint the corn on location but there’s nowhere to set up my easel by the side of road without getting plowed down by a tractor or a combine harvester, so I took a bunch of photos and then painted back in my studio.

I wasn’t sure what to do with this type of composition. There’s really no focus. It’s just a pattern of colours and contrasts. I also wanted to convey the light coming through the stalks and hitting the tops of the floppy leaves, as well as give a sense of all the colours that you see when you get close to the stalks and the decaying foliage.

If you want to see the step-by-step photos of how I painted the cornfield, it’s in the October issue of my newsletter “The Wheelbarrow”. If you’re not on the mailing list, you can sign up here. Also new is a downloadable pdf “25 Ideas to Get You Sketching Everyday“. Have a look!