Mt. Helena with Winter Trees. oil on board, 6 x 6"

$125

Changing up the Color

 

Helmsville Turnoff 2, pastel, 5 x 7"

I had painted this scene as a large oil last year and it just wasn't working.  I tried changing several things in the painting itself to no avail.  So this week I stared at it for a while,  looked at the notan pattern, the values,  the color scheme,  the drawing, etc, and decided to do some tiny studies in pastel exploring some possibilities that might solve the problems.  The pastel above keeps pretty close to the original colors of the scene, but I emphasized the amount of blues to add to the atmospheric effect.  

Contrast this pastel to the earlier blog post of Jan 17th. .(image below) For that study I really pushed the colors of sky and field for a version with more pizzazz.   The red of the paper was allowed to show through and the effect pretty potent.  They have very different moods. Which  do you prefer?

                                                               Helmsville Turnoff,  pastel, 5 x 7"

Sieben Willows, pastel, 6 x 8"

Deerborn in Summer Smoke

Dearborn in Summer Smoke,  pastel,  8 x 10", $225

Click here to purchase

This was a demo I did last night for my pastel class demonstrating atmospheric perspective.  There's lots of that in Montana this summer with thick smoke from all the fires. 
The Missouri River at Deerborn, Montana.  

Mountain Hay

Mountain Hay,  pastel,  8 x 11", $250

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Down Canyon

This is the view from Mountain Village at Big Sky, Montana.  I had gotten up before dawn to watch the sun rise over the mountains.  It was a beautiful subtle sky with thin clouds that reflected the rosy hues.  To capture the breadth of the view I decided to paint on three separate panels and frame them together.  The frame is a beautiful black frame with a glossy finish.  


Down Canyon, Triptych, oil on gessoboard, 6 x 24"
   $600.

Rocks and River

Rocks and River,  oil on canvas, 16 x 20", $1250.

This scene is along the Missouri River near Cascade, Montana.

There was a full moon rising in a very clear sky but there was a pink glow on everything from the setting sun.

Big Sky

   Lone Mountain dominates the landscape at Big Sky.  I got up early one morning to watch the sun illuminate the peak and work her way down her flanks.  No snow, it was early fall.  


Lone Mountain Sans Snow.  oil on gessoboard, 
6 x 8",  $150

Spring Hay, Spring Blooms

Spring Hay, Spring Blooms,  oil on gessoboard, 6 x 6"

SOLD

Spring Hay, Draped

Spring Hay, Draped,  oil on gessoboard,  6 x 6", 
$150, Ready to frame,  free shipping

Spring Hay

   The greening of the landscape this time of year is a discovery for me.  The colors of winter in Montana were very different from Maine.  All winter the muted colors of the landscape were livened up with those yellow orange trees that I still have not been able to identify. (A species of willow?  Too wide to be cottonwoods.  I'm asking around and will find out soon. ) The willows along creeks were pink red orange magenta depending on the light.  Winter fields were ochre straw beige or white with snow.  And all these contrasted with the black shapes of the angus cows, blue mountains, pink mountains with snow at sunset.
      But now spring.  The black angus shapes now have smaller versions among them - calves!   Fields are becoming yellow green. Those red willows are turning yellow-ochre green.  The bare cottonwoods are now leafing out with yellow beigey green of the newly budding leaves.  The light is different, too.  I have to get up very early or be out there between 8 and 9 in the evening to get those long shadows I like.  At these high altitudes - nearly a mile high - the mid day light blows out any shadows and color saturation disappears.  There is usually a haze in the atmosphere but it's not air pollution.  The air is clean here and it's too early for forest fires.  I'm appreciating those days with scudding clouds that give shadow and contrast to the landforms below them.

                                           Spring Hay - Blue,  oil on board, 6 x 6"
                                                 $150,  free shipping ready to frame.

Skies on the Open Road

I love the open road

there's always the sky to watch

at dawn

                                                                 with billowing clouds

                                                            
                                                                       or glowering

Clarity From A Distance

                                          Toward  Estremoz, pastel, 7 x 7"



     Papa Hemingway could only write about Cuba  while in Michigan,  and about Michigan  in Cuba.   I guess that's why from the coast of Maine I find myself  compelled to paint Portugal again and again......