With Inspiration From Amish Country ..

I took a photograph, sketched my idea, and finished a painting. I took a photo with my iPhone 6s while in Lancaster County, Thanksgiving morning. I knew almost instantly that I wanted to paint the scene I had just captured. While I stood there absorbing the first rays of light and enjoying my surroundings, the orange yellow color was cast over all of the objects around me. This was truly a serene and inspirational moment in time. I was excited to get this image back to my small home studio so I could get to work on recreating it. I prefer not copying an image into my creation, but this time I am going to only change a few things from the original. You can see a side by side comparison below.

The First Post About The Photo ..

Inspiration From Amish Country .. and A Little Bit About The Amish

I Originally Was Thinking ..

That this was going to be a watercolor painting, but changed my mind after I started sketching everything out in pencil. I sometimes like to use my light weight, thin cross pencil that my parents gave me a very long time ago. I will just quickly throw a few major lines on the paper in order to get some perspective in place. Instead of a piece of canvas, I am going with Canson cold press 140lb watercolor paper. Oil paint goes on to the paper completely differently than canvas or hardboard. It’s a good kind of different.

These lines are drawn fairly light. Sorry if you can just barely make them out.

The First Four Pictures ..

Show me sketching in the hard lines of the piece. Here I am using a ultra fine point black Sharpie. Sharpie absorbs and bonds to the paper pretty well. If I were to use water on this, It would not run and ruin my painting. For this piece I decided after I was done with the Sharpie and hard lines, that I was only going to apply oil paint. I felt as though this was familiar and I wanted to get a certain yellow color. I was unsure of what to mix as far as watercolor goes.. Thus the decision. Below you will see how the lines I placed onto the paper slowly begin to take shape…

After The Use Of Sharpie Was Over ..

I moved onto applying my choice of oil paint. These, seen below, are the four oil paints I decided to use for this scene. The Jaune Indien is a bright shade of yellow that I will typically grab when I am looking to get that warm late day or early morn sun soaked feel. I will dilute it with Titanium White, as I did here, or apply it strait out of the tube.

Here In These Three Pictures ..

I begin to apply the oil paint over the Sharpie Sketch. I prefer to start with the background and move my way forward. So I begin here with the sky and work my way forward/down. I mix a bit of white with the Jaune Indien color until I have achieved the color I am looking for. I wanted to lighten the sky up just a bit from the original photograph. I primarily use my finger to apply the paint to the surface. It may not be the right way, but it’s the way I prefer when painting skies.

Now For The Black ..

I now have most of my surface covered with the yellow paint, with the exception of a few areas that will be painted with Ivory Black. In preparation to adding the black, I mix in a bit of the yellow in order for the black to take on an orange/yellow like warmth. I slowly and carefully apply this to the paper. Black paint is less forgiving than the yellow, so I want to limit the amount of boo-boo’s I make when applying it. Again, I use both my finger tip and a fine brush to apply it.

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It’s Really Just That Simple ..

I am almost complete with the piece. After a few more touches and adjustments to the sky, and a signature, I am finished. Very few items were used to create this painting, but the impact is just as satisfying as if I used much much more. Silhouette paintings are always fun to do and usually come out pretty good as long as I keep a good balance of color and black.

This Is My Messy Work Area ..

After I completed the painting. It took me about two hours from start to finish, including the pauses in order to grab a few progress shots and a sip or two of coffee! Even though in the back of my mind I know I don’t need a lot of paint to get this complete, I still place too much onto my palette. I like to use the small piece of glass that you see in the photo. It is perfect to carry around, move and work on, for a painting this size.

In Summary ..

I Traveled to Lancaster County, I took a walk outdoors in the early hours of Thanksgiving morning, and found my inspiration for a painting. The beauty of a new dawning day had inspired me to create this latest painting of mine I am calling ‘Lancaster County Morning’. I Want to thank you for taking the time to read my post, enjoy the process and hopefully admire the end result. I had so much fun with this painting, that I can not wait to start another one. :-)

The Comparison Once More! ..

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This painting along with other works can be found for sale in

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Make me an offer (in SBD) in the comments section of this post.

If we agree on a price, I will then ship the painting to you. (shipping costs will be determined by your location).

Thank you for swinging by my blog and checking out the post. Have a great day!