Silent Whisper

Silent Whisper  7x5

Misty Dawn

Misty Dawn  5x7  acrylic on canvas panel



     Sometimes, I like to break away from using reference photos and simply design an image from my imagination.  That is what I have done here with this early morning scene.  Working from one's imagination can prime the creative flow if one is kind of in a rut.  The past few days have been tough on me.  Seems everything I've tried has not worked out.  Though, I now can see a dim light breaking through...I must keep moving forward.  Hopefully, with more images to post.  Let's see what develops... 

The Cumberland Falls

The Cumberland Falls    9x12    Acrylic on canvas panel

     As school ends for summer vacation to begin,  I have been thinking of the many places my boys and I can go to hike and for myself to paint en plein air.  The Cumberland Falls is top on our list to be visited often. 

A New Day

     In this painting of 'A New Day', the idea came from the simple L shape of a cliff face and steps located along the trail at The Natural Arch Scenic Overlook in northern McCreary county Ky.  Sometimes, one can get lucky and find a composition already naturally formed in nature.  Otherwise, one has to change the landscape elements to create a pleasing composition.  In the reference photo I used, there was an early afternoon light shining in sunspots on the rocks.  I made changes with that light to depict the time of early morning through a mist.

 

'A New Day'  10x8  Acrylic on canvas panel

      I love the earthy smell of mornings when the dew has not yet evaporated and the tiny droplets make the landscape appear saturated in color.  Is morning a favorite time a day for you?

Cool Mist - Demo



Placing the darks and lights



The completed underpainting

 

 

 

Working in the color

 

 

 

Details are added to finish the work

 

Cool Mist    14x11    Acrylic on canvas panel

The Cumberland Falls State Resort Park.

Definitely one of my favorite locations to paint!

 

'Exploring'...The Process of Composing

A painter needs to study, meditate, experiment and practice interminably...Edgar Payne

 

The Cumberland Falls Beach

 

     I remember the day was cold with a slight breeze.  The sun was low and light kept appearing from behind the clouds in quick flashes across the landscape.  I have always felt this kind of fleeting light to be a gift.  For an artist, this kind of action from nature will cause us to pause and study.  We become immobile and silent only on the outside.  Inside, notes are quickly taken for later use.  Of course, my mental note taking was more important than snapping a photo, so it was after the light show that I took the above pic.  However, it has plenty of information for a compositon to be made.

 

 

     One element of the landscape that pulled at me was the driftwood and how it laid naturally guiding back to the middleground boulders.  In this photo of my sketchbook, I have layed out a simple line sketch to estabolish the composition.  The larger sketch is a map of light and dark values.  It is in the contrast of values that I will rely on my "note taking".

 

    After completing the landscape, I felt that the composition needed something more, so I placed a couple of figures exploring on the smaller rocks with their canoe pulled up onto the beach. 

Exploring  11x14  acrylic on canvas panel