Three Alaska Landscape Paintings 2005-2007 | Painting 1 of 3
Hatcher Pass, Spring
Twilight
40 x 40 inches, oil on linen, 2005-07
Private Collection
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Painting
2 of 3 | Painting 3 of 3
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on images below to see bigger pictures of progress and enlarged details. |
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1) Preliminary drawing study for composition. The rapidly melting snow is a primary concern in this composition. |
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2) Detail, top right half of drawing study. Grid was added to drawing, as a guide for scaling up, drawing out the composition in charcoal on the canvas. |
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3) Charcoal drawing on canvas. A thin layer of warm white lead paint has been applied to the sky, to enhance what might be subtle contrast with colder white snow. |
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4) Working in the van, on the top part of the painting. Much of the non-snow areas have been toned with thin umber-earth red. |
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5) Working under the tarp, the painting develops. |
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6) End of June 2005 state of the painting, overall view. Note that the foreground was redrawn in charcoal. As summer foliage arrived, on-location work was halted, to be resumed the following Spring, in 2006. |
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7) June 2005 Detail, upper left. Non-snow areas have been painted with burnt umber, then snow areas painted with Cremnitz lead white ground in cold-pressed linseed oil. |
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8) June 2005 detail of lower right. Modeling with greens and browns. |
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9) Rain tarp worksite. Some of the work is done from inside my mobile studio stepvan, out of the wind, rain and mosquitoes. Much of the work on this painting was done from a more favorable viewpoint downhill from the van, working under this protective rain tarp. |
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10) Tarps were quickly added to sides in the first rain storm. Rain's ok. Strong wind is the difficulty. |
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11) "What did you eat?" Answer: Grandpa Spence's World Famous Pancakes most every morning! Tasty and energy-packed, made with fresh-ground whole grains. |
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12) ...with lots of blackstrap molasses, and hot tea. |
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13) June 2005, along came Pete Springer, southbound on 11,000 mile round-trip bike ride, San Diego to Prudhoe Bay and back. |
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14) The stepvan is home-away-from-home. Making late breakfast in the outdoor kitchen. Photo by Pete. |
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15) Early June 2006, work resumed. Working under the tarp, more snow patches were added and some non-snow areas adjusted. From a different viewpoint, bottom portion of the painting was again redrawn. So, this painting is a merging of two views. |
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16) At end of June 30, 2006. Overall view. Work is nearing completion. After this update photo was made, the sky paint was scraped off and the sky was repainted. Subtle transparent color tones of midnight twilight were added throughout the painting. |
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17) June 2006 detail, top left, before repainting the sky and other refinements. Additional snow patches added. |
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18) Closer detail of top left. All snow edges are still being refined with another layer of more carefully applied Cremnitz lead white. |
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19) June 2006 detail, top right, before repainting the sky. |
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20) June 2006 detail, bottom left. |
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21) June 2006 detail, bottom right. |
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22) Final detail, Sept. 2007, after the sky was again repainted, and a dark tone was added to mid-distance, and all work is now complete. Detail is looking down into the valley at lower right, and shows the texturing and shaping of the paint to create the volume of space in this painting. |
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