Big Snowy Range

I've taken a break from Mr. Laurence's works to do a large painting of the Big Snowy Range in Wyoming. Having never painted imposing granitic mountains before, this has been a challenge. The composition is easy. It is the painting technique that has been, shall I say, experimental.

I generally paint top to bottom and dark to light. Here I have painted in fits and starts. First I tried to paint the cliff faces with a broad brush and later added small details. Later after studying some Albert Bierstadt paintings I overwhelmed the painting with detail. Then, I scraped it all off and went straight for the palette knife.

The palette knife is ideal for this kind of large work. It can be used to lay-in the ridges and shadows and all the various joint sets (cracks). A great deal of imagination is helpful. After that I went back to the brush. Here is what I have done so far.

My Cook Inlet Seascape

This morning I am taking a break from the kids to update my blogs. There is a foot of snow on the ground with more to come this afternoon and tomorrow. If this is global warming I would hate to think what global cooling looks like.

Well, back to the Cook Inlet painting today. The 'painting' is completed and it is hanging in the local coffee shop. Sometimes I will hang a painting for a while and just think about it and see what response it gets. Often I find that it needs some revision.

The painting is posted here. If you click on it you should see a larger image. To me the painting is overwhelmingly green so I might add some color contrast before I send it on its merry way.

The frame is painted black with red primer showing through in places. I like it.

The objective now is to decide if I have followed Sydney Laurence's simple rules. There are a foreground, middle ground and distant background. Laurence used birds to better define the middle field of the painting and I may add that element.

Many of Mr. Laurence's paintings have a point of interest in the off-center foreground. Here the breaking wave acts as that point of interest.

When I look at this painting I can hear the shwush of the water in the foreground as it falls back into the inlet and I can hear the breaking wave. So I guess the painting is a success. Cook Inlet Seascape 2010.

Sydney Laurence Project: Cook Inlet seascape

I have chosen a seascape of Cook Inlet as another beginning project . This painting should be available on the net and I have posted it here. In this painting Laurence paints a storm in the inlet. I have never seen large surf in the inlet but I have seen really big tidal action. Anyway, it makes an interesting painting.

I find the painting pleasant but lacking some detail. Notice that Laurence's painting has a large area of clouds in the upper right. I find this to be way too much negative space so I intend to paint this area differently.

The palette is fairly simple. Prussian blue,  french ultramarine blue, cadmium red, sap green, naples yellow, burnt umber, white will just about do it. I could use just the primary colors and get the same outcome.

I have posted a photographic image of the same location. I will use this photograph alone with the painting to make my interpretation.

I sure can't paint in the same style or quality as old Sydney but I know I can produce an interesting painting. Maybe someone in Alaska will want it.