This is the second of two paintings of this morning’s sunrise. Within minutes of completing the early sunrise painting, shades of pink seemed to dominate the sky.
Continuing the theme of “urgency” from my previous work, I deliberately chose a larger canvas. This painting is on an 11″ x 14″ stretched canvas.
My thought was: Since I have to work quickly to capture the scene before the light changes, if the canvases are larger, my work may convey even greater urgency as I hastily scrub in the colors.
So far, this is a successful experiment. I am very pleased with this painting.
At right, the photo shows a one-inch band, from top to bottom, in this landscape painting.
Like the previous work, there’s tremendous variety in the thickness of the paint. In some areas — particularly the clouds and the snow — the paint is thick and juicy. In others, the cadmium red underpainting and texture of the canvas show through.
The passion of the color and the emotion of the scene were what I wanted to convey.
I think this work has succeeded.
I also think I’m making some tremendous breakthroughs with my recent art, as I push toward greater contrast and more vivid colors.
I may use this oil painting to inspire a larger version with similar colors and energy.