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Takeout Rock

Takeout Rock

Friends –

Behind almost every painting I do, there is my desire to work to grow in skill. And usually there is also a story behind the subject matter that is compelling (at least to me) that I want to share with you. But in this case, there is no story and I made my way to a lovely spot on the Colorado River for the sole purpose of growing a skill.

The skill of choice was to control change in chroma based on the surface angle relative to a light source. The walls along the Colorado are amazingly great for this type of exercise because the red rocks and boulders have multiple planes and angles that demonstrate that change in chroma. This spot on the river in particular is challenging because it has light from two sources – both direct sunlight and secondary reflected light. At Takeout Beach the slight bend in the river at the right time of day makes one rock wall glow from the sun and the reflected light spreads to where it must.

So, I painted a simple value monotone out there near the water, and then brought the panel home to my studio. Without the benefit of a photograph, I then worked on adding different hues, while trying to keep those values intact. Challenging.

I definitely have not mastered this stuff, and struggled a lot to make it where it seemed OK to stop. But I can tell you that I will be visiting places like Takeout Beach again until I feel that I have this thing down. It is good to keep growing.

This 9x12" framed painting, "Takeout Rock", is available for a donation to a worthwhile non-profit.

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