Old House at Badin

House at Badin

10x8 acrylic on masonite en plein air

What a pleasure to paint in the shade when it's early July, 96 degrees, and so humid you can see it.

This is a little scene located near Badin Lake, NC. Eager to paint, I drove around for a while searching for a subject that would catch my eye. I found several scenes that I liked...most of which would have placed me in an open field under the blazing sun. If you've ever painted outdoors with acrylics, you could understand my hesitation. Thankfully, I found this scene with a nice shady spot to paint. After a couple of hours of flicking ants and ticks off my legs, the painting was finished!

I like this painting's simplicity...just an old house with a nice rusted tin roof accompanied by some shade trees. I debated on painting the telephone poles. I painted them in, then painted them out. Without the poles, it was just too simple and plain looking. So, I left the poles which adds some perspective and helps lead your eye into the painting right to the subject matter.

By the way, the pole in the foreground isn't really curved...that's the product of my poor digital camera skills.