So, my Wife say, "Spitfires and Typhoons are all very well, but what about something from closer to home? How about a tractor?"

Sure, I said. How hard could that be? Well...only the fourth Cintique and Corel Painter 2016 project and...

...I've never painted a field yet alone a ploughed one, I can't paint a decent sky, and tractors are a bit 'simple'?...

...But was I wrong on that last statement? I chose this composition because it looked so cool, but this tractor is full of details I could never have appreciated. I have walked around and loved old War Birds all my life, but I have no experience of modern farm machinery - and how it shows!

That counter-balance thing going on up front is so complex, and the radiator is a maze of intricate detail - obviously designed by someone who should have done a Bugati, or something. The result is learning new techniques and the art of patience. :)

That counter-balance gizmo out of the way, and I began to enjoy myself more. But once I assigned the John Deere stripe to the bonnet, I realised I've made a huge error in the intensity of the yellow in the wheel. I'll need to revisit those, I guess.

But I was having far too much fun. And so came the folded steps, power box, or whatever it is. It's all far more intricate again than I had expected a 'simple' tractor to be.

I think I am suffering from a poor resolution reference image too...and I think it's time I drove off into the ploughing community and found myself a tractor to photo in more detail.

And as I drive around the Irish countryside, I can now point to a tractor and tell you who manufactured it! I'm a tractor spotter. I just need to find me a JD 7290R to study now :)

 

Anyway - a small update...

 

After applying the JD decal stripe, I noticed just how dull I had painted the wheels. So an evening went to updating them with a more JD yellow. I think watching all these working tractors dulled my senses - and given the mud on them it is difficult to se any colour on them at all. Anyway - fixed it.

And time moved on...too much real work to do... until I took stock of the grill. It's of a fine mesh, although I initially thought it was a clear plastic. So the mesh is too fine to paint, but too "there" to ignore.  First;y, I started with a black background but quickly learned it didn't suit my shading habits, so I restarted with a lighter grey. That made it easier for me to draw in the darker shades rather than draw in the subtle highlights - more as I would in pencil, I guess?

 

Then, as the details developed I brushed over them with a transluscent large black spray, which knocked them back and gave a 'screen' effect. It's not perfect - but will do before I spend my whole life on it. I may review it once I get time to complete the cab.

So time on project has been scarce, and time to paint has been rare while acting as a web designer and local photographer in my recent evenings, but I am so eager now to take this picture on to completion.  I hope to have more progress very soon...

 

Oh, and a note on my use of layers: what an idiot I've been for not painting on the right layer! I need to check more often (Doh!)

Some while later (now late August), my Wife has given me a right old nagging to get this beasty finished, so I'm back to it - with only a minor distraction painting the Princess...following the Charger and Countach...and if I'm honest the Spitfire too! So, enough procrastinating - and a fresh start on that cab!

The cab. It was more complex than I'd thought but it's near if not done complete with a driver.

And now to the scene...

The study photograph was lacking detail so I needfully downloaded a number of brochures from John Deere to get one or two elements in the cab right. Scene setting has commenced and I've added the plough. There is some research required to be certain that where I've "filled in the detail" from my imagination, that it is as correct as the tractor now is.

I've temporarily turned the lights on: it's early morning, after all. This was an over-nighter!

And then it's already Winter: so many other paintings under my belt and in the gallery. So, it's a cooler time of year: there's no blue sky, and the mists drape the fields in a haphazard way as they lift into the clouds ahead of a lazy Sun. You ride to work in the dark and get home in the dark. But there's work to still to be done. Done.