Olana Glow 4

8x21 pastel on watercolor/Uart paper

Here's to taking my own advice. The foreground needed to be darker...maybe even more, but I think I have run out of "tooth." It's better, but certainly not perfect. It does have distance, but not the beauty I saw in my mind's eye. Sometimes you just have to go on:-) On to my next lady-in-waiting.

Olana Glow

Here is the next step. I left it as a larger jpeg so that the grey/ golden steps could be seen. It's almost done. I think.

Warmth and Distance /Painting in progress

painting in progress
underpainting

How do you create distance yet retain the warmth of the very late afternoon/early evening? The simple answer is greying down your colors.. But there is more....Look at Sanford Gifford. His greys and light are magnificent.

Yes..today is beautiful outside(90 and sunny even at 6 am it was 70). It's almost sacrilegious that I am inside. The fact is this painting called me to begin.....immediately. More on this one later.

History/the Hudson River School Painters

Frederic Church's home at Olana
View from Thomas Cole's porch
Kaaterskill Falls Painted by many HRS painters
Kaaterskill Clove -also a favorite place for the HRS painters

I have ALWAYS admired the Hudson River School, especially Frederic Church, Sanford Gifford (my fave-he is in this category although more of a luminist), and Asher Durand (check out his letters). They had the first artist colony in Palenville. It served as a base for their painting in Kaaterskill Clove and Falls (above.)
The two best parts of the trip-seeing Frederic Church's view and feeling his presence inside his house. It has all the original furnishings and paint that Church bought /ordered for his home.

I highly recommend visiting Olana..it's breath taking in so many ways.
Check out this link- http://www.history.vt.edu/Barrow/Hist3144/readings/hudsonriver/index.html

View from Olana

about 7x21 pastel on watercolor-Uart paper
I am visiting Olana, the home of Frederic Church. He was part of the Hudson River School, pupil of Thomas Cole. I have long loved his and Sanford Gifford's work. Today it was amazing to walk in the footsteps of these great artists.
His house designed as a sort of middle eastern oasis is exactly as he left it-same furniture, paint and all! I was able to stand in his studio and feel the great man's presence as I looked at his living landscape outside his window.
When the clock struck 6pm I knew it was time to paint. The winds were blowing so hard that I not only had to hold down my easel but my water kept blowing all over everything-over and over. Then my painting took flight -that's when I cried "uncle" and finally dismantled the easel. The painting was finished on the ground.
I photographed it in the fading light of evening so it is and awful jpeg. You can't even see the sky colors. I will photograph again tomorrow morning and repost. The repost is above.Now you can see the sky... a little.