Today's painting is a cut- and torn-paper collage that resulted from a moment of pure joy when our grandson, Chance, was visiting about six years ago.
We rose early to enjoy the cool desert morning by watching the sunrise and drinking "Mexican Coffee" made with coffee, milk, brown sugar and cinnamon. In the picture, Chance is sitting on the low stone wall that divides our dooryard from the desert scrub. To his left - on the north - are the Dona Ana Mountains. The sunrise is so brilliant it wraps half-way round to the west.
I began with an underpainting in pinks and reds that looked so much like the desert sunrise. Mountain silhouettes were cut from various brown and rust papers. I did try to make the mountain shapes look just right, so they would be recognizable as the Dona Anas. The creosote bush is assembled from many pieces of green in different shades, interlaced with some thin, graceful branches of brown. I really struggled with how to do Chance, cutting, painting and discarding several before settling on this version. I wanted everyone to be able to recognize what's going on - a young blonde boy drinking from a mug. I had to simplify, simplify, simplify and then add many layers of watercolor glazes to strengthen the modeling on the figure.
I really like the way this painting turned out. Whenever I see it, I'm reminded of that beautiful morning and my heart nearly bursts with love for my darling grandson.
"I Love Mornings!"
Inspiration: just a few of my most favorite things, my most favorite time of day. A snapshot of pure emotion.
No comments:
Post a Comment