Well.... Pictured above is what began as a Post Saint Surveillance "Warm-Up" piece
before i jumped back into the bar room brawl that is the 6x4 foot Rebel Angels painting
Slowly evolved into a week long sojourn thru a waterfall laden forest...
Figuring after giving my ALL to the Saint Surveillance masterwork
i needed to RE-ADJUST back into the Rebel Angels mode
a more Classic mode
but i wasn't ready
the brain wasn't ready
After all that battle and struggle
i needed an Oasis...
a little breakfrom the chaos..
and so...one night
after looking at persian miniatures
balinese paintings
and old drawings and sketches i had collected
this was born
FAST and instinctual
Playing....
I wanted something playful and relaxing
A land the viewer could wander about for days.
That was one thing ALWAYS in mind when creating these...
Paint something that can acommodate a large group
That way somebody near one side can have a place to enjoy...
everyone can have an area....a place...
Here is a closeup of the humble beginnings
Taking a cue from Klee and Kandinsky and Mary Blair for starters
very rough and playing with shapes
shapes which will later form a rhythm upward
to offset the downward rush of the waterfall...
Here's a little further into the piece,revealing the sunlight charged basin
beneath the first of twin falls....
Some more rough coloring to flesh out the land.... Note the blue circle to the right....
an echo of the one near the bottom....
Hiking further up the cliffs
a few waterfalls torrent downward.
And yes.... another circle
The fun is going to be laying down transparencies later...
And the very top of the piece....
Cooling down with a calmer,quieter location.
Seeing as this painting will be messing with depth and perception and
a certain stylized realism
This tree was placed in the extreme foreground
to help with the illusion of atmosphere later.....
you'll see!
unfortunately.....Painting this wa such an obsessive blur
no more step by step photos were taken...
Above is 1/3 of the way thru
before the water and other details were enhanced....
like the white flowers in the upper center...
No shadows yet! look for them later...
And here it is,placed atop the Rebel Angels to give you a size comparison...
it's 2 x 5 Feet,which is a pain in the Bee-hind to paint...
especially the middle!
Above is the finished
and as yet...untitled ...painting.
just waiting on the title.
That happens often when i wander and play
outside of official scheduled pieces..
But a small price to pay....
the title will bubble up....
Anyways... Here is some music for you
as we climb and grunt and shimmy
up and down this landscape...
Working on the beard of Saint Surveillance gave me a hankerin for some WATERFALL!
Some water moving DOWN a surface
rippling
flowing
moving
This was a Blast
Working with reflections
shadows
depth
tilting up riverbanks
and flattening verdant hills...
Great care was taken to make this place seem ALIVE!
Note the ferns in the lower left foreground
a wash of light blue was thrown on the lower fronds to establish a depth and realism
to this place...
Here you can see the first "circle" in the composition
a little flat area of red dirt
sprouting forth all types of goodies!
A closeup of the bottom palm
JUST to allow y'alls a chance to see all the detail that goes into each and every plant...
Above the palm are these two trees
the decorative nature of the vegetation on these trees
was inspired by the art of Bali.
A little further up,we reach a shady spot near a steep pair of falls...
A view of the other bank
a patchwork of trees and bushes and ferns and flowers
dappled upon the closely stacked cliffs...
A close-up of the tree,again showing the decorative motifs in the trees....
A view of another semi-circle
sneaking it's way into the composition....
In the above picture,we pan back a little to see how the cools and warms interact.
and reflect how this piece
that began as a mere excercise
has "sprung" to life
and become a place
despite breaking so many rules of form and physical space...
One of my Favorite areas in the piece
especially the blue palm...
Such a Grand Vista!
A closeup of one of them pesky circles and the semi-transparency of the water
revealing a bit of the red dirt cliff underneath...
And here's a pretty little grouping...
Can you hear the water
feel the coolness?
i sure did when painting it!
Peeking thru a maze of branches
a few upper waterfalls rush slowly down...
Here's those upper branches we saw in shots of the first session...
And here is a final picture.
it's getting late,so i will save my Rebel Angels progress
for the next blog
Which should be VERY SOON!
Here's a teaser
just cause i loves ya!
Thanks for the visit
and taking the time to go hiking this fine day!