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.