Pattern

Today was all about pattern—trying to go with them, create them and break them.

It started with the weather.  It is in a pattern now of raining in the late afternoon. I have to consider this when I start a painting because I may not get it done on time.  When I woke up,  I saw something big was coming over the mountains.  During the day the front got closer—until it cracked around 6PM with a stellar double rainbow as a grand finale.

In the evening,

I met these two cyclists, Ryan and Dave, who are riding coast to coast and blogging about their journey @thesimplemenbikeacrossamerica.org.  I might even make it into their blog!  They started from Portland and are headed for Savannah. Finally I got a few shots of me actually painting, thanks to them.  They have to send them still, though.

So, all the paintings I’m currently working on involve pattern.  I’m incorporating an existing pattern in one painting.  The transition between what was printed and what I wanted to add was going to be the toughest part so I dealt with it first, trying to figure it out ahead of time. Beginnings are shown.

In another painting the clouds created a pattern–which I put down.  (I always paint the backgrounds first in an additive approach.)  The foreground has also become a pattern in this tailgate shot.  The problem for me is that then there is no focal point of place for your eye to rest.  I have to go into this painting and get rid of the lava pattern.  Marks at the moment are similar and there needs to be more variation.

On the big Cinder Cone Valley painting, the foreground was also too much of a pattern.  Last evening I broke it up but still need to reintroduce some light into especially the right hand side.  It was extremely gusty and I had to strap the esale and painting to a highway sign.