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| Day 2 work on the painting |
Yes, I found out what that purple brown weed is called. I did some internet searches and discovered it is a perennial and a common weed of crops, pastures and roadsides. I remember seeing lots of it as I was growing up. It is a native to Asia and Europe, but has spread to North and South America as well as Australia and Africa. The plant is green at first then becomes reddish brown as the fruit matures. There are a number of varieties of this plant with many different names for it
including Sheep Sorrel, Sour Grass, Field Sorrel, Red Sorrel and Dock. I am not sure, but I think the Sorrel in my painting is Sheep Sorrel. Some people make a tea from its leaves, but I read that it can be mildly toxic, so I would not recommend it. I love it as it makes such a pretty contrast to the greens and yellows.
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| The view today. Notice the Sorrel under the trees. |
As I drove to Monterey last weekend, I kept looking for the Sorrel along the road sides. I was disappointed by how little I saw, but I think I found the place where I took my original photo many years ago. It doesn't look the same anymore. The beautiful purple coneflower field is now a grape vineyard and there are new trees blocking the view of the hills.
So with my piece of sorrel I broke off on the site, I worked on my painting today. Below are a few photos of the painting progress.
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| Working on the field behind the sorrel. |
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| Softened the hills and worked on the sorrel and grasses. |
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| Detail |
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| Working on the foreground as well as the background buildings. |
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| More detail work on foreground grasses and side trees. So after a good six hours of work, I decided to give my painting arm a rest. I will hit it again tomorrow and add some coneflowers, more grasses and work on the trees to the right. Getting close to half done. |
