Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Sunsets Across the Land - Quartet Miniseries in pastel

Sunset #1 - Acapulco
3x9 inches
pastel on reclaimed Colourfix

Sunset #2 - Across the Poquonock River, CT
SOLD
Sunset #3 - Bluff, UT

Sunset #4 - West of Tucson


A return to these 1:3 ratio small pastels that I've enjoyed doing, with some landscape-format sunsets for this series.  Nothing like some bright, over-the-top reds and oranges or warm pinks and muted corals to help with a creative slump, right?


Four sunset moments from four very different locations.  There are plenty of art critics that believe sunset paintings are a cliche (did I mention this in the last post?  I believe I may have) and border on kitsch, especially those with the sun in a setting position.  


Sunset paintings are one of my guilty pleasures, kitsch or not.  


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And, here are a few recent photos of sunsets taken from our deck:


April 11 - Altostratus

Kelvin-Helmholtz cloud - April 11
April 5 - Altocumulus
April 4 - Altostratus

9 comments:

  1. Very nice! I like the vibrant colors and value contrast.

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  2. Thanks, Helen!

    Dan - thanks! I think "value contrast" is exactly the reason I painted these. I have found myself not having the enthusiasm I expected to paint some of the Bluff/Comb Ridge scenes that I thought, and it finally occurred to me that the issue is limited values and mostly neutral earth colors in many of my photos. It's hard to make that work as a painting.

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  3. Beautiful! My favorite is sunset #1, amazing clouds!

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  4. Thanks, Jill - I'll tell you, it's a challenge to get those clouds right, both in terms of color and making the shapes not appear mechanical. The translation from real life to camera to computer monitor doesn't help, either.

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  5. It's not cliche if it is part of your real experience. I have the same experience with my barn images.

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  6. That's a good point, Casey. And I guess barns (and lighthouses...heh) are considered a cliche by some. I absolutely and unapologetically LOVE good barn paintings, though. Ditto sunset/sunrise paintings.

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  7. Love this series of sunsets. They are just beautiful.

    They make me wish I could learn more about pastels.

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  8. Hi Marian - thank you for stopping by and commenting - I appreciate it. I went and visited your website and blog - you do really nice work!

    I enjoy working in pastels because of their immediacy and vibrant colors, and they're less messy than oils. You should give them a try!

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Your thoughtful comments add value to this blog - thank you so much for taking the time to leave them!

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