Cajun House

This is about 6-1/2" x 11" on textured print paper glued to illustration board, sealed with clear Colourfix primer. (The edges are very raggedy, which looks nifty.) It's done almost entirely in panpastels, over a bright reddish magenta underpainting.

The scene was difficult because the whole ensemble was back-lit. I wasn't sure how to deal with the lighting and the value range. The sides of the buildings facing me were actually very much darker than this.

I am going to do this scene again, larger, and with more sky and trees. I like the symmetry of the trees/sky shapes that I created (with Photoshop) at the top of the pic below. I also like the overall shape and the proportions much better. It echos the centeredness of the walk and bridge and door line.

Here is the reference photo of the old Louisiana homestead, and another angle on the house. Both pics are very much photoshopped.