"Look and Compare"

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"Look and compare to move forward in life." Contrasting one thing with another is the way art gets created and the way wise living is achieved. Just by watching the disasters or successes of people's lives should show us which direction to go.

I decided to return to Texas today and paint a scene from Cow Creek Trail. It was created by painting a series of horizontal bands with variations and a few verticals. The diagonals are subtle, but they give life to the painting. And I am well aware that I've talked about diagonals day after day.

In observing what other artists create, the pieces that really "grab" me are the ones with a good number of diagonals. I think it's important enough to keep repeating until it sinks into all of our heads. Of course, if it is not done convincingly and sticks out like a sore thumb, that would completely defeat the purpose. So my encouragement is to look for those diagonals everywhere you go and in every thing you decide to paint.

The Texas landscape is a hugh learning curve mixing grays because we have a very neutral landscape most of the time. If you want warm grays...mix Ultramarine Blue + Cad. Yellow Light + Cad. Red Med. + White. If you want cooler grays...substitute Alizarin Crimson for Cad. Red. Med. I like to use both just to have a contrast between warm and cool. You will also see a lot of "grayed down" purple in those rocks.

And just in case you missed it...(because most water is blue), that is green water with reflections. I have so abstracted the scene that you might not be able to see it as clearly unless you look at it from a distance. But it looks remarkably convincing from across the room. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.