Artwork Analysis – On a weekly basis I will chose a painting that has gotten some attention and explain the process in which it was created. Most of my paintings are actual images that I envision-the colors, the theme and the basic location. All elements are added from different places around a general area, a main focus is set which captures the overall mood and the peripheral elements add the overall texture and assist in strengthening the main focus of the final image.
I am amazed by water, the reflections, the clarity and the sound. I visited the Cascades in New Hampshire and I was hooked. The Cascade images I’ve included are of some of the seven or so waterfalls I followed all the way to the top of a mountain. I have a need for the viewer to feel the coldness of the water that’s why the images are darker and the brighter colors play off the dark blues. I want you to be able to see the rocks beneath the water and feel like you can walk in. These waterfalls were all done during a darker phase in my painting, I have since gotten a much more vibrant palette. While I was painting this series I was surrounded by waterfalls as I built them in my studio-I had several waterfalls in tanks so the sound was always around as I painted.
I use photographs to get a basic feel for the image but all images were created from careful observations of water, both on the site of the waterfalls or in similar areas locally. I study the light and why each area of the water looks the way it looks. I have narrowed the idea down to a basic full mirror of the sky and remaining images, that mirror is than broken by the movement of the water and the play and direction of the light. All the colors are affected by the angle of the sun and the distance from the viewer. I have many notes on all different aspects of water that allow me to create water that looks like it’s moving and looks like it is transparent. In the future I plan on painting more paintings using multiple layering as opposed to the wet on wet I have employed in the past.
My next blog will be on teaching art. I have recently taught a class on painting and it has changed the way I paint because it forces the teacher to see painting differently and verbalize what is usually an instinctual process.