Sandwich Perennials

#7 Sandwich Perennials  Original Acrylic and Gouache by Peter Ferber  $1400

image size 9.5×13.5″ framed size 15.5×19.5″

To purchase, please visit The Art Place, 9 N. Main Street, beginning on February 27, doors open at 9:30 a.m. or call (603) 569-6159 phone lines open at 9:40 a.m.

As I write this, I’m feeling this might be my pick from this show.  As some of you may know, this is my favorite technique in painting.  The process is very forgiving, and unexpected, beautiful touches surprise me along the way.  You can get a hint at how the painting evolves, and a little sense of what I experience in looking at the front of this charming, overgrown cape up in Sandwich.  After making an initial over all application of color, I added the warm, neutral wash that blends and unifies the painting.  This is such a transformative step, easy to do, and takes the painting to a whole other level.  The next step is, again, relatively easy, and so rewarding.  I begin near the focal point and gradually remove the wash in certain places, bringing out contrast, detail and light.  Getting back to the front of the house, you can see this in the front door and first window.  But then I’ve gradually stopped that, leaving the right side of the house untouched.  So there you can see what the whole painting looks like after the wash goes on, and the effect of bringing out the highlights.  The tricky part is knowing where to do that, and where to leave it alone.  I also discovered two other techniques this time.  In bringing out the light in the curtains, instead of using pure water, I used a blue tint while removing the wash.  This gives that feel of the slight color old window glass has.  Finally, I began by painting in the flowers in acrylic paint, which is waterproof.  So after all the watercolor was added, I was able to “wash off” those untouched acrylic blooms, and the full, bright color literally “bloomed” from out of the green background.  Another easy, but effective way of making the paint work for you.  So you can see why this particular technique is so much fun to do!

Peter Ferber