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| "Grand Tetons - 4 am January 1926" Oil - 18" x 24" A birthday gift to my uncle |
| My uncle asked that I do him a
painting from a commercial photograph. I didn't feel that I could ethically do that without a major reinterpretation. The photo was a daylight shot 'tourist' image. |
| Here I changed it to a
nighttime image. Once I was in Rocky Mountain National park late
at night and stood alone outside the car soaking in the moonlight
reflecting off distant glaciered peaks. Remembering that time I
felt a nocturne would allow my uncle to see the mountains more
clearly.
The starry sky comes from a computer program, Starry Night Backyard, which allows the user to set the time, location and direction of view and presents the night sky based upon the magic of astronomy, mathematics and sidereal time. I couldn't set the program to Jackson Hole, Wy. but I got close enough in latitude at Sioux Falls, SD. The program indicated that on the night I chose there was a three-quarter moon and so the landscape is not as harshly lit as it would have been under the full moon. This is a rural setting far from any human population congestion and so we have a dark sky with no ambient light from civilization. My uncle arises at the ungodly hour of 4 am. and the date chosen was his birthdate. Interestingly enough, changing the imagined shining orb in the sky can yield the same lighting of the landscape. The difference lies in the coloration and tonal values. I completed this painting using only Prussian Blue, Burnt Umber and white in mixtures. I particularly love the patchwork tar paper roof. |
