I return to this blog, bearing a landscape. I don’t do many landscapes, something which I find a terrible pity, so I’m working on rectifying that, and here’s my latest effort.
Apologies for not updating the blog sooner, it’s been a hectic month—and a frustrating one—because other duties prevented me from painting as much as I’d like. I have several works half-done, but this is the first so far that’s ready to be shown. I’m determined to do more painting from now on. It’s been too long away from the studio, and that is unacceptable!
I did this painting at a recent workshop with Adam Clague, who is primarily a figurative painter but also is delving into landscapes (and doing a magnificent job!). I’m proud to say that while he guided and advised me on this painting, all the brush strokes are my own. Yay! I’ll definitely be seeking his guidance for landscapes in the future.
The subject is my beloved Yosemite National Park in California. I used one of my vacation photos as a reference (sadly I didn’t paint it “from life” or “en plein air”).
I grew up taking family vacations to Yosemite, probably every year when I was a kid. I keep on going back to Yosemite as often as I can and it never fails to inspire me. It’s like time stands still, and I can think back to my childhood visits to Yosemite, to when things were simple. Nothing has changed there, Half Dome is still Half Dome, and Yosemite Falls still looks and sounds like Yosemite Falls. And the bearclover (“mountain misery”) still smells like . . . mountain misery! But I love it all!
Landscapes are particularly hard for me, I guess because I’m more of a portrait and animal painter, but I can do better when I paint somewhere I love. When I was a teenager I had art lessons, and was given painting “assignments” from my art teacher. Some random landscape photo was selected for me to paint from, but it was torture for me, start to finish. I realize now that in order for my landscapes to be worth anything, they should be of a place I love, preferably from a photo I took myself, or even better, on location!
This painting didn’t turn out too badly, and I’m convinced that’s because it’s a painting of a place I love. I foresee many more paintings of Yosemite coming from me in the future!
