TM8282 From Silent Slopes 16×16 oil on panel

If a painting can offer escape to a better place, at least for a short while, then that place better be worth the visit. I’m fond of painting places that may be difficult to get to – places you can see for only a short while. My effort to find and paint these places is a way of honoring their importance. The paintings become a remembrance.  They may also spark the imaginations of other viewers. Enjoy!

Technical painting notes: My recent experiment with more abstract starts for my paintings continues with From Silent Slopes, an early autumn view from the mountains. Again, I used a rubber brayer to roll on the first layer of paint, but instead of using just one color I blended the color from a darker brown at the bottom toward a cool, dark green in the upper left and a warmer, lighter green on the center right. I used paper towels and a rag to lift the color while it was wet and establish major values and shapes. Crumpled plastic and mineral spirits  were used to create textures, and “flicked” mineral spirits droplets were blotted to suggest rock textures and the texture of distant trees.

When this first layer was dry, I continued with my usual layers of glaze, and used more opaque paint to suggest highlights. I tried to keep the details to a minimum and let the original layer show through as much as possible – all part of an effort to retain the original poetic inspiration. (Excerpt from center of panel enlarged below).

Detail from TM8282 From Silent Slopes