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Category: landscape

Painting: River Through Mountains

Published February 17, 2020
Painting: River Through Mountains
River Through Mountains. 8 x 8 inches, acrylic on wood.

I decided to relieve myself of the impulse to make another tonal, semi-representative work by forcing myself to work with a non-representative palette. I painted this over three sessions and I feel pretty good about it. The one thing i really learned while painting this is how much the music i’m listening to influences my approach to making marks.

I struggled quite a bit at first to get into a flow with this painting. Zion was also painting in the studio next to me and I let him pick the music. It was a great mix, but around halfway through the session some kind of more improvisational jazz type of music started playing and the groove and the energy of the music started influencing my painting. Zion noticed it too and commented on it. I’m going to start to experiment with different music as i continue this painting practice. There is really something here to use.

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Not so precious

Published February 6, 2020

In my second sitting with this painting I brought in the sky and sea, and I have to say that it was thoroughly enjoyable and I like the outcome. In particular, I love this section of the shoreline. I’m making a conscious effort to evoke the essence of the scene without getting too precious.

sea detail. this part is my favorite so far
2. sky and sea
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New Beginning

Published February 5, 2020

Started a new painting last night. I had intended to do the same scene again but after making that little waterfall painting the other night, I changed my mind. Gotta move on. I’ll be painting more loosely and following my intuition.

1. undersketch and some greens
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Painting: Wisconsin Waterfall

Published February 3, 2020
Wisconsin Waterfall. 5 x 6.25 inches. Acrylic, urethane, Ink, pencil, and paper on wood.

Last night I found a couple of old paintings from 2002, and I had the overwhelming urge to paint over one of them. I busted out some sandpaper and roughed up the surface, then looked for an inspirational subject to work from that would lend itself to this collaboration with my former self. I am very pleased with the result and really looking forward to doing another of these (with the other old painting) tonight.

In my hand, for scale reference.
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Flood Reflections at Rutherford-Sayre Park, Chicago

Published January 29, 2020
Flood Reflections at Rutherford-Sayre Park, Chicago. 24 x 24 inches, acrylic on wood. 2020

I finished this painting and I’m feeling pretty good about it. The goal was to paint 2 foot square acrylic version of the very small gouache painting I made last year (below), using only the painting as a reference rather than the original photo reference. I’ve hung it up in the house to spend some more time with it. It’s got a great presence.

Next up I’ll be trying this scene again, same size, but directly from the photo (with some new restraints). My thinking on that here.

Flood Reflections at Rutherford-Sayre Park, Chicago. 7 x 7 centimeters, gouache on paper. 2019
Studio mess.
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