First week of August, 2013

First week of August, 2013

First week of August, 2013
Oil (about 30 gallons of it) on Canvas, 24 x 36 in

Sometimes when you try something difficult you are rewarded with spectacular success – but more frequently, you crash and burn. This is a story of the latter. I am posting it regardless.
I need to understand water better. In case it isn’t clear, this painting is of the lake – the foreground is looking in to the water, and from there as you work back gradually the part of the water that you can’t see into, that’s reflecting the sky.

I want to be able to “see” water better. I am stupefied every time I look into it by its incredible beauty, unfathomable complexity, and utterly bewildering symmetry. I am trying to understand translucency – as told through colour, my medium – as opposed to through light, it’s medium. I have a long way to go. But I suppose I’m one step closer to understanding.