Tag: landscape

Owens Valley

I have been going absolutely crazy since Monday when I found out I had a serious computer problem. It took 10 hours or more to fix it. Add to that, I have to choose a new Medicare supplement plan. That means research, reading, deciding. And stress. All this has been making me crazy, cranky, and not a happy camper.

So, today things are winding down, and tomorrow dawns with all decisions made and the world will be a far more pleasant place. To de-stress, out came the watercolors, and a photo from our covid-cancelled trip. There is nothing like painting to relax and zone out. Here, a painting from a photo shot from the window of the car as we drove along Hwy. 395 and the world swished by.

It’s a harsh landscape, but one of subtle beauty. Vast open spaces, too, add to its grandeur. And, it makes me happy.

Dry Land to the East

I was in the passenger side of the car, in the back seat. The land was barren and dry, filled with rugged rocks and sparse vegetation – beautiful and lonely.

I like to have my digital camera (here, X100V) set to a fast exposure and point and shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot out the car window. It is always surprising what you get and rather fun, too.

Late Summer in the Olive Grove

I started this painting a couple of months ago at least, but because of life and cataract surgery, I didn’t finish it until today. There have been several iterations of it. The subject itself was inspired by van Gogh, and I had thought to try to copy his style of painting, but found that it was far more difficult than I anticipated.

The painting itself is done on an 11×14 canvas panel by Arteza I gessoed over its primed surface, in part because I like the process of preparing a surface for a painting, in part because I never like something already prepared by someone else. From there, the surface was neutralized with a pale underpainting of yellow ochre and burnt sienna, very thinly applied.

One of my primary issues in painting of ay type is depth of field. Easy to do in photography, but not in painting! Thus, this was a goal in this painting. In general, I think I made it, but had to work and re-work the surface of the painting. This is the pleasure of acrylic – once dried, I can paint over what I don’t like.

I used a variety of techniques, one being glazing to dull own areas by using a cool glaze, and to bring others forward using a warm glaze. It worked, but I realized I needed to go further by using a dullish grey-green for the tree on the left, and a brighter, warmer green for the olive tree in the foreground.

This is the first painting – artwork of any kind – I have done since I had my cataract surgeries in July and August. With new lenses, in my eyes and in my glasses, my sight is much better. However, I may still need a newer prescription in a month or so as it was hard to see what I was painting with my new glasses. Time will tell with this.

Altogether, I am pleased with this attempt. First, I like the painting. I am going to let it stew a bit before I apply any varnishes. So, letting it sit is “second” – already I can see areas which are a bit illogical. Finally, the entire process was fun to do. Acrylic, as with all media, has its good and bad qualities or frustrations, or whatever, but the simple doing it is delight. Painting just removes the outside world and transports me into another dimension which is pure bliss.

The Quiet River

This is a week for meeting up with old friends! After working in acrylic for several weeks, having eye surgery, and not doing much artwork of any kind, it felt great to do gouache yesterday, and this morning, watercolor.

It is interesting how some days just push me to the limit in frustration and dissatisfaction with what I do, and other days just move along in a calm and serene way. Why is this? My mood was patient and willing to wait today, whereas on other days, freneticism is the dominant emotion. I think watercolor especially requires a serene approach, more meditative than other media, simply because once the mark is made, it is there. With gouache and acrylic you can hide your messes a bit more easily!