Been awhile, been busy

[Kristian_Saapunki]

Dont rush it. Looking good so far!

Thanks

[fredain2]

Hi Carl:)
the world was not built in 3 days!:)
Taking some breaks to ponder on what to change, add something, make it better or not, is part of the creation, i guess.
Sleep on it.

[CarlOwen]

Good morning Kristian. Good morning Adain. It is Thanksgiving day here in the U.S. so, have a happy Thanksgiving. Thank you both for you comments and support. The foreground conversation has begun. I never know when such conversations will start or end. On one collection of six paintings the conversation per painting was an hour or so. On one painting I did, it took seven years before the conversation was completed. It found another home. The buyer was pretty insistent about it. Moving on.

The foreground in the picture I took of this location in 2011 while trailer camping at the Grand Canyon is actually in shadow. Beautiful photo, but does not work as a pallet knife painting. Or would it? Been going back and forth in my mind seeing it in shadow and in the light. Took a few days to decide. I chose to paint it in the light to continue the illusion of depth as I decided that to paint it in shadow would flatten out the painting thus killing the quality of perceived depth.

If I had to classify this painting, I think I would call it Impressionistic abstract realism. In reality, this is the direction I am pursuing with my landscape art. I have no interest in creating a painted photograph of a landscape. I want the paint itself to give the impression of a form by use of colors, pallet knife sculpting and various depths of paint. I want an abstract presence with lights and darks clashing and blending to give depth and complexity to add to the visual presence of power. And lastly, I want the forms used to be representational of reality to evoke real world subject recognition with the viewer. The end result of this approach captures the viewer in a pleasant experience by seeing and taking time to visually explore an object of beauty. It looks to me that this painting is coming in the closest to this artistic endeavor.

I don't remember if I mentioned before that the size is 30 inches by 40 inches. First time I have painted something like this with this canvas size. Earth's Heart 1, 2 and 3 don't count because they are color no shape paintings. I think I will be exploring this size range more.

I am calling this step 11 because it is the lead step into the lighter color values in this painting.

[CarlOwen]

Well I have pushed far enough today. The painting has come to the stage where I must readjust the colors, slightly, and the directionality of the pallet knife strikes. Have to get cleaned up and start cooking with my wife for the Thanksgiving dinner at a friends house. This is step 12.

[CarlOwen]

Hi again. I believe this is step 16. My smart card on my camera broke and I was at a point I did not want to stop. Took pictures of steps 13,14,15 with my cell phone. If I figure out how to sent the pictures to my computer I will post them. In the meantime I did not want to let folks hang out for to long, so I am posting the finished painting. So, here it is.

[CarlOwen]

This painting should be ready for the last step sometime in May. A clear coat of modern day spray varnish will bring out the full depth of color it currently lacks. I know it is recommended to wait nine to twelve months to let the oil fully dry. But it is so dry in New Mexico that I have learned it is ok to varnish in six months. That learning is based on experimenting with paint of different thicknesses on a canvas. Anything about 3/16 of an inch or less is hard dry. Anything over 3/16 of an inch deep is kind of hard rubbery. May is going to be busy. I will be finishing this one and starting two others.

Oh yes, I will post the finished painting in the custom frame when it is gallery display finished.

[CarlOwen]

Good morning. Grand Canyon 3 is finished and framed. I checked the canvas front and back to be sure it was dry. One of the tests is to lightly feel if any of the deep paint depth spots on the canvas is firm as in dry or moves a bit and kind of sort of feels like plastic. The feel was hard with no movement. I used high gloss clear acrylic spray. I prefer Krylon sprayed from the aerosol can. I think it works better than varnish as there is less of a tendency for the acrylic to bond with the oil as varnish does. I have a few paintings from 2010 that I did with this method. They are still as vibrant today as they were seven years ago. So, I believe the method will stand the test of time. So, the final progress post for this painting. One down and three to go.

[Singular]

looks great Carl.

[CarlOwen]

Thanks Joe.

[CarlOwen]

Thank you for your comment rithkhmer. I see you just joined. Look forward to seeing some of your stuff or at least your future comments.

[Pooch]

Great job. I'm hoping that it didn't lose that texturing when you were finishing it up and that it's only the way the photo was taken. I like the texture and the little bit of detailing you can see in the distant cliffs in the earlier shots.
About that varnishing. Being fairly new to oils, having been an acrylic user, I have a question. Living in Florida, am I going to have to wait a year to put a coat of varnish on my work and offer it for sale? Does the painting surface make a difference, I wonder.
Since I'm painting on plywood panels I can't do that test as you can with canvas. I couple of my earlier oils feel dry but I know that they are probably still wet beneath the surface.
And framing a painting certainly does give it that finished look, doesn't it?

[CarlOwen]

A painting without a frame is like having sex without having the love. Fun but unfulfilling. Very. As to where you live, move. You must wait between 12 and 18 months before the painting is dry enough to varnish. The plywood panels. Stop it. Over time the glue holding the plywood together shall fail before the Oil painting does. Same thing with Masonite. That is because wood expands and contracts seasonally regardless of how covered it is. It is a moisture absorbing thing. There is a reason the old masters used stretched canvas as the preferred surface. Some of them used gesso enough times that they could sand the surface so smooth glass would be envious. And actually the texturing was enhanced by the light refraction increase caused by the varnishing. Also, I do not varnish with standard oil based varnish. The famous Dammar varnish was such a disappointment. I varnish with clear high gloss acrylic spray. I have discovered Krylon is the best. That's enough for now. Learning is best done in steps, experimentation and discovery based on new knowledge. Just an old learning theory thing.

[CarlOwen]

Thought I would share an update. Grand Canyon 3 received an Honorable Mention award in the 2nd Annual Landscapes completion by fusionart.com.

[jenn_iam]

That's great!!! Keep sharing.. always a joy to an artist to get recognition.

[CarlOwen]

Thank you Jennifer. Answers short today. Weather front moving in. Hands hurt. Not complaining, just a fact of life.

[Kristian_Saapunki]

Thanks for the update.