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| 7x10 pastel on paper |
A couple of years ago there was a memorable exhibit of Dwight William Tryon's seascapes at the Freer Gallery of Art. Freer was Tryon's biggest collector so lucky for me the museum owns many of his gorgeous works. This show featured his seascapes. Beautiful thick pastels created by building the pastels in many many layers, just like his very thick oil paintings of fields. I remember distinctly that he had painted them from memory. While in Ogunquit Maine (yes Maine, Sam) Tyron had fished and would later return to his studio to create these beauties. (below)
I really love the few trips a year I spend at the sea. It is most soothing to hear the repetition of the crashing waves. During the last 2 months I often looked at the many seascapes in his book, An Ideal County. So I decided to go out on a limb and do a value study of waves in the ocean. I used an old photo as a beginning reference as I had no idea of how waves really work. To complicate it further I made a composition with three slightly unequal bands. The goal was to play with these bands and their edges to see if I could pull it off. What do you think...did I pull it off?
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| Tryon, moonlit sea, pastel on cardboard |
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| Tryon, a misty morning, pastel on cardboard |
13 comments:
Oh.... this is exciting! If there's anything I appreciate as much as the sky, it's the ocean. Then again they are just reflections of each other. Looking forward to this study.
Still in conference prep limbo!
Lovely, moody seascape, Loriann. It suggests just enough and the gentle sense of movement and transition of values works well. Thanks, too, for sharing Tryon's seascape pastels - these are beautiful and I hadn't seen them before.
Good Morning B,
You've succeeded! I think it's just amazing even though
you never done one before. You make it look so easy ... I know it's not! Your transition from one thing to another is always so smooth. One would never know all of the different methods and scenes you've been working on.
Um, aren't you supposed to resting more?
pb
Yes, you most definitely have pulled it off, the waves are alive and moving!
Hi Leah! I knew you would like an ocean scene. Sorry about the conference limbo.
Thanks Brian. Glad you like the Tryon seascapes they are gorgeous. Check out the book An Ideal Country, you can find some in there.
Hi PB, thanks!! Don't worry I am resting ...lots. I really have no other choice.Any time I try to do too much I absolutely crash. I think I will do more seascapes... wish I were there.
Hi Nika,
Thank you. I am glad you think they are alive, I was worried they might appear puffy.
I'm the wrong guy to ask, since I grew up right on the beach. I can say many, many great things about your work - especially the formal parts.
You eat the horizon line (hide it) which is very important in my opinion. Excellent. The value scale - very great.
I could go on. You do a wonderful job of tackling subjects outside of your comfort zone. Maybe the results of all of your hours en plein air?
Thanks so much Casey! I really appreciate such precisely stated observations.
I can hear the swish of the wavelets on the sand, the wind is picking up and the sea is turning choppy. You've caught my favourite time at the beach.
Hi Lisa, you make me feel the beach with that description! Thanks!
Hi Loriann,
I like the way that you keep stretching your artistic muscles. I think that Dwight Tyron is very much an under appreciated landscape painter. His paintings have those subtle qualities that reveal themselves over time. BTW- Studies in Reflections- I like the way you created a sense of depth in the second study-that touch of orange hit the right note.
NJ ART 73
Hi NJ,
Thanks! I wish my back and arm muscles would stretch as well as my art brain is stretching (heehee) but I guess you can't have it all!
Have you ever seen Tryon's work? It's mind blowing. I really don't understand why he has been ignored for so long...I hope his day will come. If you ever get to DC go to the Freer for a visual feast....and let me know if you are here!
PS thanks also about my studies in reflections!
I think your wave drawing is awesome, as are these lovely Tryon pieces. (Especialy love that lavender in the first Tryon.)
Thanks Jala. The Tryons are really beautiful in person!...mind blowing.
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