I am getting closer to completion on the piece that I have been showing over the last week here, a 24″ by 48″ canvas. After taking the photo shown here, I was able to spot several areas that need small touches to bring it to a possible finish.
The painting has changed considerably since the last stage I showed of it in the prior post. The everpresent Red Tree has appeared on a rise overlooking the lake. The sky and sun (or is it a moon?) have unified in color. The trees and fields have taken on more color which gives them shape and depth. The lake that was last seen as a black pool has transformed into a surface of teeming blue brushstrokes.
It may not be very obvious in these photos but I lightened the most distant hills which moved the horizon deeper into the picture and gave the whole piece more depth. It’s one of those things that doesn’t register when you first look at the painting. You see the closer images – the lake, the houses, the graveyard, the bridge and roads– or maybe you focus on the sun/moon and the Red Tree stretching up into the sky. Those are all important elements that make the painting vibrant and certainly are the stars of the show. But, for me, it’s this extra perception of depth beyond the scene that gives the piece a real sense of wholeness. This depth attaches the fantastic to reality.
I spoke in the last post about the graveyard which is a new element for me in my landscape paintings. Another new element is located in the area around the covered bridge. Now, I have used bridges a number of times in my work and even a few covered bridges have popped up so it’s not that. It’s the simplified gas station, a one-pumper that recalls rural gas stations of the past where the pump was just off the shoulder of the road. I don’t know how that came to be in this painting except to say that I wanted a strong distinct element that would balance the graveyard and like the way it breaks up the space in which it is located. Plus, the addition of the it and the graveyard give this piece a sense of real place, of community, for me.
There is a lot for me to like in this piece. It’s as strong and appealing as I had hoped it might be, with great rhythm and flow through its many elements that gives it a sense of harmony. I had mentioned that I might use this piece for a Name That Painting contest but now I’m not so sure. I have a title in mind and am strongly leaning toward using it, although I want to mull it over. However, I would love to hear any other titles you might have in mind.
Redtree Times 