Old Red Sugar House

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The idea for this tutorial came originally from an email I received from one of the members, who asked if I would consider painting something that featured old rustic farm machinery.

I thought this was a great idea; so a few weeks later, when I came across this photo of an Old Red Sugar House in New England with the rusting skeleton of an ancient plough in the foreground, I was inspired to do a painting of it as a winter tutorial.

As the name suggests these Sugar Houses (also referred to as Sugar Shacks or Sap Houses) were built for the production of Maple Syrup.

I love the weathered structure of the old shack, which gives us the opportunity for some fine brush detailing, and provides us with a lovely contrast against the strong blue of the winter sky.

The skeletal forms of the trees offer us the perfect backdrop, and there’s plenty of foreground interest with the rustic old plough, partly glimpsed through the spokes of the simple iron wheels.

Great fun to get us all painting!

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