Early Sunrise – 11 Jan 2011

sunrise sketch - oil painting - 11 Jan 2011

This is the first of this morning’s two oil paintings capturing the sunrise.

I was consciously working with more vivid colors to capture the true impression of the sunrise.

Though I wanted to keep tweaking the painting to get it “just so,” I’m also very inspired by yesterday’s discussion with my daughter, Amber.

As we talked about art in general, she used the term “urgency” to describe what makes the earliest album by U2 so compelling.

Early sunrise - 11 jan 2011 - detailWe agreed that we both like music that’s still raw and untidy, with glaring imperfections almost obscured by powerful emotional content.

That’s what I’m working toward with my art: The raw, emotional content that’s so important in any art form.

So, some of my coming works may be less “tidy” than in the past.  It’s part of the process.

This is an oil painting on 9″ x 12″ canvas board.  The paint is thick and a little unruly, but it’s also very expressive.

The detail at right represents a one-inch section of the painting.

In some areas, the paint was applied thick, quickly and with flourish.  In others, the cadmium red underpainting shows through.

The trees at the horizon are cadmium orange with a suggestion of green between them and the blue band of color immediately above.

For me, this piece captures the vivid tones often overlooked early in the day as the sun is barely visible in interior New Hampshire.

This is an oil painting on a 9″ x 12″ canvasboard.