EAGLE’S NEST
March 24th, 2008
STUDY FOR PRIVATE COMMISSION
I’ve been working on several large painting commissions recently, and don’t have a small daily painting for you today. However, so that those of you who subscribe to this site might know what’s going on in my studio, I decided to show you the process I use to develop a finished painting for a specific commission.
In this case, I was asked to create a painting from the grounds of a beautiful log home that the client has built high above Lake Granite Shoals. The home, which is an absolutely stunning, three-level lodge with porches and gardens surrounding it, is perched on precipice with a breathtaking view of the lake, and eagles actually nest up here, high in the canyon walls.
Rather than requiring a documentary portrait of their gorgeous vacation home, they allowed me to gather reference and propose a more poetic idea for the painting, with no other guidelines than it should in some way depict the beauty of the location, include some aspect of the log home, …and have bluebonnets. I walked all over the grounds, and shot dozens of reference photos, but knew before leaving what I wanted to do. For me the vista from the grounds of Eagle’s Nest and it’s beautiful setting was the most compelling impression, and these lovely oaks offered the perfect tie-in for building the composition.
I prepared the above sketch in Photoshop, by altering the view from this reference photo, and several others. Rather than describe the adaptions, I’ll just let you find them if you’re interested. I was a bit worried that the owner may actually want more of their impressive and dramatic home included, but to my delight their response to the sketch was, “I absolutely LOVE IT!!!” I’ll show you the finished painting, soon.
I leave today for another trip to gather more painting reference from a friend’s cattle ranch. They’ll be branding and doing the spring work, so I’m really looking forward to this experience. I should be back in the studio with another painting for you on Thursday.
7 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
I bought the painting Beach Buds 2. It came wonderful wrapped and boxed. The painting was even more vibrant and alive with color then the web picture could ever show. I highly recommend this artist and his work.
Comment by Delilah — March 24, 2008 @ 9:59 am
Thank you very much for your compliments and recommendation, Delilah. I’m so happy to know that you’re pleased with your painting.
Comment by Jimmy Longacre — March 24, 2008 @ 10:05 am
Hi Jimmy, I thought I was looking at a painting, so you altered this on your computer, neat. I look forward to seeing the finished painting, I know it will be great. Barb
Comment by Barb Pask — March 25, 2008 @ 11:01 am
Thanks Barb. I’ve found using Photoshop to be an invaluable sketch tool for exploring composition and color possibilities when preparing for a large painting. Many problems can be solved at this stage, allowing a freer and more confident approach on the actual painting.
Comment by Jimmy Longacre — March 26, 2008 @ 10:41 am
Hi Jimmy,
I’d like to say how much I love your work, especially the little still lifes you offered on ebay. I thought they were colorful ,delightful and wonderful.
I’d like to make a suggestion regarding something that bothers me in your phototshop study that you might want to consider changing.
You have a row of three bushes on the lower right hand side. If you remove the middle bush then you’d have a clear view of the stairs. It seems like it would open it up a bit by removing an obstruction leading to the house. That also would leave you with three bushes rather than an equal number of bushes that are about the same size.
Congratulations on your commissions and I wish you continued success.
Linda
Comment by Linda Lucas Hardy — April 6, 2008 @ 8:19 am
Hi Linda. Thank you for your compliments and for taking the time and interest to think about this study with me! I admire your beautiful colored pencil paintings, and recommend to anyone reading this interchange that you click on Linda’s link for a very worthwhile side trip.
Linda, I wish we were talking instead of writing (I’d make coffee), but the very things you suggested were concerns I tried to address in my sketch. In the photo there are four bushes of near equal size and interval. I eliminated the third from the left and altered the shapes of the remaining two on the right, adding a portion of another that ties the movement to the edge of the composition. The one I removed was intended to create an entry to the two oaks and the distance beyond, rather than directing the view to the stairs (which offers a secondary path to the focus on the pattern of the oaks against the distance.
Your comments tell me that I may not have been as successful as I imagined, and I’ll definitely re-think. Anyway, thank you, again, for your thoughtfulness in commenting. I appreciate your suggestions.
Comment by Jimmy Longacre — April 6, 2008 @ 2:27 pm
Isn’t that just like an artist? Of course my eye went right to the area you want to focus on but then I saw the bushes and the stairs. Since something felt wrong I zeroed in. Who’s to say anyone else would? Ok, so what if, rather than removing the middle bush, you either mimimize or remove the bush directly to the left of the middle bush? That would open up the area you want to focus on a little more, still keep the attention off the stairs and at the same time keep them from feeling obstructed. Oh…it’s all a guess anyway. Whatever you do, I know will be great!
And thank you Jimmy, good conversation over a warm cup of coffee would be nice. Best of luck with the painting….Linda
Comment by Linda Lucas Hardy — April 6, 2008 @ 5:55 pm