extraordinary hour of calm

big, 36x36 pastel on marble dust board

I began this painting back on May 27th. I was inspired by a sunset walk through the fields I love. The deer were grazing without a care. The sketch and small painting were done for my experience. Since then the painting has been through many metamorphoses, some of which I have documented on this blog. I wanted it to feel tranquil mixed with awe. The longer you look, the more you see. Finally it might be done, hmmmmmmmm.

Deer Grazing at Sunset/unfinished

"As painter....we must always remember that our precious poetic visions and spiritual insight will remain forever locked within us until we can boil them down to a complex arrangement of a few hundred strokes or possibly even thousands of brushstrokes." Richard Schmid

Inch by inch this one has been creeping out of the marble dust board. Plein air painting has the vision before you. From that image you make your own. In this painting I am working more like the way George Inness did. I saw the vision, but now it is just me and the board with nothing but the vision to guide me (unlike plein air). It's hard. Poetic visions,...hmmmmm, are supposed to appear easy, like they just slid off you like water on a duck's back ....... This one has been scrubbed, sprayed, scratched, painted, and hundreds of layers of pastel... It still has more to go. Let's see who wins.....or finds peace.
I swear it's the best job in the world.

Deer at Sunset

9x9 pastel and watercolor on Uart paper

This is the small, but finished version of the deer on my favorite field. Most of my energy went into developing the light through the trees. I could make out the deer in the distance but so quietly. (Can you see them?) One focal point, a place to linger.. To make it stronger I needed to edit and simplify everything else for maximum effect. The feeling of quiet reflection...... .