Saturday, June 1, 2013

"The Narrows"
24x32
oil on canvas board

Once again, I repainted an old canvas.  I painted the first version in 2009 and it just seemed too cool in color to me.  So I took off the frame and tried again!  That was not an easy process, as I discovered that the framer had nailed the painting into the frame with quite a few nails!  This is a scene from the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.  I warmed up the color of the cliffs and the trees and darkened the crevises in the side of the cliffs.  I put a bit more detail in the background, putting in warm green trees.  Then I lightened up the water and the ground in the valley.  I also lightened up the mountains in the far background.  The light on the cliffs seemed to be a bit stark, so I changed the color from a yellow-white to a softer lavender.  Hopefully I can finally sell this monster.  This is the largest painting I've ever painted.  I was advised by several people that I ought to paint larger paintings, but they just don't seem to sell.  People around here don't want to spend much money on paintings.