Wednesday 24 October 2012

Aspens - WIP

An old friend of mine got in touch to chat about painting and we got to talking about his love of trees in pictures. This got me to thinking about a little project I'd promised myself a while ago. Since my last visit to the States I'd decided that at some stage I'd get around to producing some pictures of aspens. I initially became interested in aspens through the photographs of Ansel Adams. At that time I was making a lot of monochrome photographic images and I spent some time seeking out attractive stands of trees including aspens or similar species like birch and making prints of my pictures.

Since beginning painting the interest had continued and I found many images in the collection of images produced by the plein air movement in the States. The aspen is a common subject over there. So  having arrived at the notion of making some tree pictures, it wasn't a big jump to decide on aspen as a suitable subject. So I had a browse through some images on the net and found a number by the West Coast artist, Kathleen Dunphy. I selected one of these and began a painting based on it. If in doubt use the work of an expert to emulate.

The painting is not yet finished but it is getting close. Any suggestions would be appreciated.  


Aspens (after Kathleen Dunphy) - Oil on canvas board 20" x 16"

14 comments:

Ray Maclachlan Art said...

Great painting Mick, I think it is finished. The tree trunks are round, solid, and they just glow. Well done.

Peter Ward said...

I'm not an oil painter but I pretty much agree with Ray - finito!

Yvonne Harry said...

If this is a good rendition of the original, I am with the guys above and say leave well alone. The colours are lovely and the painting has an ethereal quality I really like!

Colin Joyce said...

I think it's really good Mick and, as others have hinted at already,to do anything else could be a dangerous thing.

The painting is finished my friend.

Unknown said...

Ray - Thanks. Not a lot to do but I'm not going to spoil what's on there.

Unknown said...

Peter - Cheers. It's about time you tried the oils.You'd love them and just think it would give you a massive new area to investigate.

Unknown said...

Yvonne - I really appreciate your thought. I'm not doing much else to it.

Unknown said...

Colin - Thanks. I'm convinced, a couple of twigs and it's done.

Nora MacPhail said...

It's looking great so far. Have you seen the awesome tree paintings by Roger Åkesson? He's at Art by Roger.

Unknown said...

Thanks Nora. I've checked out Roger and he certainly has a very distinctive style. I'm not sure it is one that that sits comfortably with the direction I'm travelling at the present.

Daniel Corey said...

Great piece Mick! Beautiful natural colors and a feeling of air.

Caroline Simmill said...

Hi Mick this is a really beautiful painting, nice simple composition yet striking too. It is so nice to see your paintings.

Unknown said...

Dan - Thanks. I really enjoyed this piece and hopefully it represents a move in the right direction.

Unknown said...

Caroline - So good to hear from you. Hope your computer problems are behind you and thanks for your ind words.