Friday, September 26, 2008

A Summers Day

An 8"x10" frame is usually very inexpensive which was the sole purpose of doing this painting at this size.....well, that and I don't usually do that size very much. I'm not crazy about those dimensions for landscapes and it is very limiting in how much canvas you have to actually paint on. The one good thing about an 8"x10" is it makes you really think in the planning stages. It also is fun to see how much of a scene you can squeeze into it. I went vertical with this one just wanting to do a tree and once again practise grasses.
This painting was done strictly from imagination. I suppose these scenes can be monotonous but I think if you want to get good at them you need to do them a lot. I've noticed some of the works of California painters, namely Grandville Redmond, and their backgrounds seem to have as much work in detail as the foregrounds. I tend to "diffuse" my backgrounds leaving the detail for the foreground. I think I'm going to begin to work more on the backgrounds with added detail but paying attention to aerial perspective. This should start happening in work to come.

4 comments:

Dianne Mize said...

Hey, Ron. I don't think I'd ever tire of your paintings. I agree about the 8 x 10 format. A little means a lot. What I can't do is to squeeze one into a 6" x 6" like so many of the daily painters.
Nice painting, Ron.

Ron Guthrie said...

Hi Dianne,
Yeah, that size ratio was never my favorite...I like a slightly wider format like 9x12 or 12X16. Gets a little cramped at 8X10.
It's just such a popular size so I do paint them and you can find any frame on the planet in an 8X10 size.

I like a square format too...something about square. I did some small 6x6 and 5x7's for last years Artist Studio Tour here in the valley and just put $85 price tags on all of them. These were small paintings I used to learn to paint clouds, mist, fog etc and they came out nice enough to frame. Sold everyone except one I wanted to keep and I had 2 offers on that one! Those little guys move! Need some for this years Tour in November.

I had a big 36x36 over the fireplace but I recently turned that in to a gallery up north so I've got a big empty space there now....I decided to go even larger to replace it...a 36x60! It is hogging up almost all of the adjustable space on my easel vertically! Can't wait to get started on that one.
Take care Dianne...
Ron

Anonymous said...

A great painting, Ron: simple yet atmospheric. You depict your fields beatifully.

Ron Guthrie said...

Hi Alexandre,
Thanks for the good words. Adding some expansive background is something I enjoy in a painting. The grasses I think are getting better all of the time.

There are so many little things to learn as you paint, grasses, rocks, rolling hills. So much still to learn! hahaha. Thanks!
Ron