3:26 PM: as the first peals of thunder resound over the mountains and into the valley, i’m completing my painting for the day. when i first glanced at 2020 creek oil 1 this morning, it struck me as too busy and devoid of a center, it had compelling elements though. the only one i’ve kept, for now, is the cobalt teal bluish scrumble on the upper right portion of the composition, and the orange/black marks on the lower right. i went over the rest of the canvas with a thin-ish white mixed with a little yellow.my reference photo is the one i posted esrlier today, below, with those unbelievable crimson weeds emerging from the moss covered rocks. so we have orange on the bottom; crimson, then green, with the cobalt teal bluish above and a pale yellow background. the marks on the outlined log on the left were made with a sennelier violet oil stick. i read last night about the 19th c. discovery of violet, and how van gogh used a combination of violet and yellow so brilliantly in some of his paintings of flowers. he learned, by reading a just published book on color, how excellent is the combination of those two colors. tomorrow afternoon i have a dermatologist appointment in salida, an hour and a quarter to our north, so we’ll see if i have any time tomorrow morning to continue this revision. while it’s a relief to lose all that busyness, i do love how it peeks through the thin layer of oil paint. your eye moves over the surface, from one element, one color to another, with the underlying previous painting investing it all with richness and mystery. shit, i should be a writer!
just back from our trail walk. these are a few of the photos i shot. future paintings?