Monday, January 30, 2012

Winter landscape - side creek, pastel

This afternoon's painting, switching to a portrait format, of a small creek, water reflections and shadows...

Along Lightner Creek
16x12 inches - pastel on Strathmore Artagain
© S.Johnson
Lightner Creek is a small drainage that enters the Animas River right near the Hwy 160 bridge passing through town.   This is near a small footbridge that leads to the local dog park in town, and the photo was shot the day after our winter storm 2 weeks ago.

These small streams that have the meandering edges against the snow - I just love them.   Aside from the interesting abstract shape of the stream itself, I liked the balance provided by the horizontal shadows and the vertical winter trees.

This painting came together so effortlessly it was almost eerie, and it was just plain fun to paint.   I realized that it's actually been a while since I've worked on the Artagain - probably almost 2 months - and it does handle better than both the cardstock and the el-cheapo construction paper (and much better than the Somerset Black Velvet!).

I've been busy-busy framing paintings for a guest artist exhibit I was invited to for the month of February.  I'll post more about that later, but I did this painting specifically to go in a silver plein air frame I have, to be on display downstairs when people walk into the building.  I'm hoping it will entice people to make a trip up the stairs to the gallery to see the rest of the paintings (and photos by the gallery owners)!



16 comments:

  1. It is SO beautiful Sonya. :) I just love the winding path of the water and you've nailed the edges of the stream too. I bet it will look stunning in that silver frame and catch the eye of every passerby so they will HAVE to come upstairs. :))

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    1. Thanks, Crystal :). Aren't streams like this just so cool? I love coming across them pretty much any time of the year, while hiking, but snow transforms them into something else entirely. And, it does look pretty spiffy in the silver frame, I was pleased to discover!

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  2. Tremendous! Everything works just right, and your talent is evident.

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  3. I agree with everyone above, Sonya. This piece is wonderful! I love everything about it. Well done!

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  4. Your color and design are spot on! Beautiful painting.

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  5. Stunning! The intense blue in the stream is wonderful, too.

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    1. Hi Gabrielle - thanks! I actually loved that I could finally use that bright blue Senn pastel that has been sitting in the tray all these years :).

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  6. Wonderful! Love the way the stream trickles down, and the shadows, too. You've captured it so well.

    I have taken a pretty similar photo around here to try to paint from but I haven't had the guts to try it out yet!

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    1. Hi Debbie - thanks so much for your comments on these recent paintings :). I say just jump in and try your winter scene - what have you got to lose? Even if it doesn't meet your expectations, you'll learn something!

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  7. I've awarded you a Versatile Blogger Award:
    http://pasqueflowerponderings.blogspot.com/2012/02/versatile-blogger-award.html

    To pay it forward, create a post mentioning the award and include 7 factoids about yourself. Then list 15 bloggers you follow on whom you'd like to bestow the award.

    LeAnn

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    1. Oh - I almost missed this, LeAnn! Thanks so much - I shall do in my next post!

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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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