Valley
View
This
is my first blog on my new website and I thought it fitting to start
with a new, just finished but still wet painting. It is an 18”x 24”
oil painting on a linen panel.
The
subject is a scene I got glimpses of while driving between New
Braunfels, Texas and Canyon Lake. The day I took the pictures that
eventually became this painting three years later was one of those
Texas spring days with intermittent showers, some pretty heavy. There
was practically no traffic on this rural road this day, so I was able
to safely pull over to the side. So this painting is basically right
off the side of the highway and no time to make a sketch let alone
get out my paintings for a plein air piece.
When
I got out of the car and walked over to the guard rail, I realized
the view was better than I thought, but no single view did it justice
as there were always trees or a sign blocking the view. So what I did
was take a series of pictures of the same area, but from slightly
different views.
This
would not be any real problem as I normally will take a series of
pictures for reference when I can't make a sketch or actually
paint a small piece for later reference. After over forty years of
painting I have yet to find a single photo that would tell me all I
need for a painting.
So
what you see in in the painting is an actual place in the Texas Hill
Country, but not faithfully rendered so that you will instant
recognize it if you were driving don the same highway. You would see
several similar spots, but the Hill Country is loaded with scenes
like this so I guess this painting is somewhat generic, but typical
of the area.
I
hope you enjoy it.
