"In Him"

($150.00....12" x 12"....Water Soluble Oils on 300 lb. HP.....Mounted on a 1.50" depth Clayboard)

"In Him we live, and move, and have our being." (Acts 17:28...Amp.) This gestural landscape piece was created to potentially be a part of the upcoming Easter Exhibit at Hill Country Bible Church NW. 

Even though I have defined these types of pieces as "gestural landscapes", they really are based on color as the focal point rather than a particular landscape. It is a great way to practice with different color combinations and the techniques involved with the palette knife. After completing well over a hundred small oil paintings, I am still learning things about palette knife applications and have now added cement trowels and other larger knives to my collection.

For instance, a large plastic trowel is great for laying down the first color. In this painting that color happened to be a pale yellow. It worked better than my smaller palette knives so I now have a better and more efficient way of laying down that first color. 

If you've never tried horizontal bands of color, you might want to step your toe in the water on this one and use whatever medium you're presently using. It could easily be done with acrylics, pouring medium, watercolor, pastels, etc. It's a great exercise in helping understand how to mix colors using a limited palette and judging what surfaces work better. Today I worked on 300 lb. HP Watercolor Paper which is a great surface for oils and palette knives. 

Another advantage is having cropping options by working larger. That option goes away by working on a pre-stretched canvas. One other thing I did differently in this piece has to do with the lettering. It was inscribed into the paint with a Speedball C-5 nib and wiped off after every stroke. The lettering at the top was done with a palette knife, turned to create the thicks and thins of the strokes. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.