Visceral ART

I grew up spending time here in there in Index, Washington. Just North of Seattle, it is home to lush forest, flowing rivers, and breathtaking vistas. I was asked if I could do a painting of the forest and mountains. I liked the atmosphere and colors of the picture but I wanted to add the river. This was the first picture referenced taken by my dad. I enjoyed the atmosphere. The sky is grey but there is sunshine in certain areas of the picture. The clouds interact with the mountains. The trees indicate that this is during the fall months bringing in orange and brown tones.  This next one also taken by him is from the river. The river and mountains are both major elements of Index and I wanted to depict both in the painting. the rocks disappearing into the river can add a interesting foreground. The deciduous trees along the river in hills break up the evergreens. This painting of Milford Sound in New Zealand by Andrew Tischler was my biggest piece of inspiratio

I've always enjoyed painting scenes from the Second World War. There is so much depth in locations, uniforms, equipment and themes. This painting depicts a automatic rifleman at the front of a patrol as they navigate the Normandy hedgerows. The allies would spend all of June and most of July stuck only a few miles off the beaches due to the ferocious defence by the Germans. I started this painting almost a year ago to the day. This is how it sat for a year. It was intended to be a quick study to practice painting hedgerows and foliage. I wanted to do another World War Two painting and this one was begging to be finished.  For the US soldiers, I referenced some illustrations by Ronald Volstad. These depicted the US Army uniforms used in the European theatre of operations. Most soldiers where outfitted with the beige field jacket and brownish wool trousers seen in the illustration. I liked the tense poses the soldiers were in making it look like they knew they were walk

I've always wanted to paint something by viewing it in real life instead of looking a picture. My backyard has a awesome landscape with towering aspens and evergreens. I started by priming the panel with black paint. I sit outside and paint by eye. I leave areas blank where I know the background shines through. Right now I'm just trying to block in the basic shapes.  The general idea of the painting starts to emerge even if it's a sight for sore eyes.  This is where the painting starts to take off. I repaint the sky ensuring full coverage. It's already looking much more blue than the previous picture. I work from the farthest object away to the foreground. In this case it is the house. I add in the main components of the house but most of it won't remain visible in the end. Than I paint in the pine trees sculpting the major light and dark areas. I leave a lot of areas dark or empty because they'll be added in when I go back