8/29/16 7:45 AM following this mornings tweaks
DETAIL
the passage on the lower right just above the distant mountains was bugging me. it seemed as if there was another mountain behind the narrow strip that is the san juan mountains, and it was too dominant. as well, that narrow band of bluish mountains as a whole was a bit too dark in tone. all i had to do was open my studio door and take a glance, and i could see that strip of the san juans was a bit more greyed out due to the atmospheric effects of the 45 or so miles separating us and that horizon. an unexpected result i that the beautiful brushwork in the cloud formation on the upper right is no longer overshadowed by the intensity of the lower portion of the composition and, when you’re looking at the actual painting (this is almost impossible to reproduce on the screen) there is a satisfying balance of form, tone and color. oh, and one more thing: isolating that cloud passage ofund in the upper right quadrant of the painting inspired me to experiment with making a new painting in which the entire canvas is filled withf a detail such as this.
BELOW: comparative view of the painting yesterday, on the left, and today
