Exhibited: Breckenridge Gallery, CO
Private collection
My thanks to the collector of this oil.
Landscapes are unlimited venues for color and composition. I was attracted to the possibilities of this scene and jumped right in with the idea of using bands of color.
It seemed simple enough but the oil wasn’t achieving the balance I wanted. In this small space there is a lot of territory between the foreground and the sky revealed at the very top of the scene. Part of the problem was my insisting to use so much color.
Slowly, the solutions came. Keeping the foreground dark allowed all of the other colors to shine and the addition of foliage to what were once bare trees added more mass and interest to the piece. Finally, more colors in the trees were added that compliment all of the others.
It really doesn’t show here, but this work started out with even more complexity and as the sessions followed, the best solutions were increased simplicity and unity, It was an enjoyable puzzle to solve.
