Yosemite Study #3

This week's blog post features my third Yosemite study created last week.  As part of the experiment posted previously, I painted this canvas upside-down until finished.  The painting depicts Yosemite's famed Bridal Veil Fall, which was in full flow when I visited the park in October 2010.

"Yosemite Study #3."  Oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches.  Completed October 2012.

Yosemite Studies

After a fairly unproductive summer in the studio, I've been re-energized this fall, and I'm currently working on several projects.  I began a commissioned house portrait this month, have continued working on architecturally-themed pieces, and started a new discipline of working in the studio at night for experimentation and fun.  For the coming weeks I have marked off Tuesday and Thursday nights as committed studio time, no ands, ifs or buts.  My intent is not to produce gallery-quality works, but to explore new ideas and take some risks I normally wouldn't allow myself during my weekend studio sessions. 

I began the idea by assigning myself a project: take an image and reproduce it in oil UPSIDE DOWN.  I chose to use images I took during my Yosemite vacation in 2010 since landscape has not been an area of concentration for me lately.  I placed the source image upside down on foam-board nearby, then painted what I saw on an 11x14 canvas, using no preliminary sketch. I worked for about an hour on each canvas, never turning it over to see the upright image until it was finished. On Tuesday night I completed two small pieces (seen above), and on Thursday night I completed two more (to be posted soon).

"Yosemite Study #1: Half Dome."  Oil on stretched canvas, 11 x 14 inches.  Completed October 2012.

"Yosemite Study #2: North Dome."  Oil on stretched canvas, 11 x 14 inches.  Completed October 2012.

State Capitol

This canvas is my latest aerial work, based on the North Carolina State Capitol in Downtown Raleigh.  I created this piece as a silent auction prize for an upcoming fundraiser by the State Capitol Foundation.

"State Capitol." Oil on stretched canvas, 24 x 18 inches. Completed September 2012.