Last month, I and two other Sacramento artists, were invited by a local gallery to take a trip on a vintage Chris Craft down the Sacramento River to sketch and take reference photos for future art works that will be displayed and on sale at the gallery this August. The idea is to paint views from the river as opposed to from the shore. This painting hot off my easel is from a photo I took as we approached the confluence of the Sacramento and American rivers about 6 miles north of Sacramento. The bridge crosses the American River and the old water inlet structure is on the Sacramento River. I first did a loose sketch on MDF board (8"X34") and laid in a rough sky color and ochre color I saw in the water. Next came a rough laying in of tree highlights/shadows and the sky reflecting off the water. Next was a little more fine tuning on the trees, a darkening of foreground river tone to contrast with the lighter water at the confluence. I also painted in the bridge structure. The next to last stage shows some dabs to represent people wading in the water and the beginning of refining reflections in the foreground. The top painting is the final with enough refinements for me to say to myself " David, put the brush down!"
15 comments:
Dazzling, Dave! I wish I could capture that sparkle like you have!
Niiiiice !!
David - that's a handsome picture that really evokes the river. What an interesting show that will be in August. Are you going to let us into the secret of WHERE it will be? :)
i love it! bravo!
yeah, very nice finished piece and I really like the long format for landscape...especially useful for a riverine scene.
Fantastic color and compposition, David. I love the wide, thin format.
Thanks Mike! I was inspired by Colin Page's last post on his website. He's in my Fav. Links...check him out if you haven't already. I go gah gah every time I look at his paintings.
Dane: The show will be at Archival Framing and Gallery in Sacramento. I need to paint two more river scenes for this show. Hope to post them early Aug.
Thank you Helene!
Thanks Clive. I must have been very influenced by my youthful days going to those block buster movies filmed in Cinemascope! Remember "How The West Was Won"? Larger than life and bullshit history as told by Hollywood. On the other hand, "It's A Mad, Mad World" was really inspired, especially when Jerry Lewis made a cameo appearence by running over the hat that was blown off Spencer Tracy's head!
Thanks Ed. I always struggle with color, but it sure can be worth it. No pain, no gain!
Yes, put down that brush and step away from the easel.
I like this one a lot.
You really boosted it with color there at the end.
Thanks to you Frank, I have my color booster guru...Colin Page.
David, Seeing how this piece evolved in stages opens my eyes in another fresh way to your creative process, especially after you talked about it this morning. I love it! Ricky
Ricky: Sure enjoyed the interview this morn and can hardly wait to read your doctoral theses. Yes, my step-by-step shows how I start and finish a painting and is pretty much common for all us artists working in opaque mediums. Thanks for visiting my blog!
These are so cool.
thanks for sharing,
faye
Post a Comment