Kate Withers - 'Painting Space'

 Remembering my time at Dead Horse State Park .. smoldering red sunset .. last glow over an immense landscape.  This was an experiment to see if I could accomplish a tonal painting .. colors that are similar and close in values .. using restraint. Plus I wanted to use some of my many red and violet oils without doing flowers ..the usual way to use lots of reds. Here is my impression from that famous viewpoint ..  acquire at Gallery 24 - Torrey Utah

8x10            oil on canvas             Sold Here in Capitol Reef country.. huge spectacular clouds are frequent during the summer monsoon season. They dwarf the massive rock formations below.. rising and floating over the land like an alien armada.. and just when you aren't paying attention.. they disappear.. or they might evolve into a fast-moving deluge.  Best to be prepared if you are out and about in this glorious changing landscape.

If you have ever visited Capitol Reef National Park.. you know there are many different reef formations in the region.  This painting was inspired by the moonlike landscape found just outside the east side of the Park.  Clay and old ancient sand dunes with hardly any plants growing.. afternoon light on the Reef. 8x10     oil on canvas View at the Rim Rock Restaurant in Torrey Utah

Finding the right colors for this piece was a challenge..paints are so limited in their range.   Many of the colors used in this piece are straight from the tube.. no white at all.  My inspiration was the intense molten colors of sunset on the rock formations near Torrey.. the beginning of the magic hour.  8x10      oil on canvas Private Collection

12x12         oil on canvas         Sold An impression of the late afternoon light... stylized Grand Canyon formations as seen from the Tonto... some of the best views can be found on this vast plateau... halfway down to banks of the mighty Colorado River.  Magical times. ** Update:  This painting no longer exists .. it has evolved into a much bluer version.. see it here .

8x10    oil on canvas panel    SOLD Available Paintings ..  Gallery 24 - Torrey - Utah This is from a series of studies I did of the last light on a particular Canyon formation..one that millions of tourists see from the South Rim.  My focus in these studies was the contrast of complementary colors ... and the drama it affords.  The beautiful weathered shapes catching the warm golden rays of the sun amid pools of cool cobalt blue.  Great fun to paint!

9x12       oil on canvas panel       SOLD Desert plants have always fascinated me ... how do they survive and thrive in the harsh climate of the deserts? ...especially in the furnace-like conditions down on the valley floor of Death Valley.   This oil study is of one such hardy old survivor... which seemed to glory in it's environment.

8x10       oil on canvas panel        NFS A quick preliminary oil study for a much larger painting which took many months and constant re-painting to finish... after all that.. I actually like this small piece better. (There must be a moral somewhere in this :)

 18x18        oil on gallery canvas        SOLD Almost sunset... a late jaunt to the windswept dunes beneath Valhalla Canyon.. an imaginary expedition from the comfort of my studio.

Here are the first layers of color... mainly ultramarine blue, manganese thalo, cadmium red deep, cadmium red light and a little naples yellow. I will be expanding this limited palette somewhat.. but this piece is based on a blue/red concept. You can see the shapes are taking on a life of their own already. Long ways to go....

Started a new painting from one of my photos taken in early fall... the Paria River Canyon area.. 24x24 oil .. one of my favorite areas.. a relatively unknown vast high desert region of the Grand Staircase NM.. just on the border between Arizona and Utah. A painter could spend a lifetime in that wonderland. Here are two versions of the structure.. the initial layin.. a de-saturated version and the drawing I did on the canvas with my brush... prussian blue over a dried flesh-colored acrylic wash.. just to seal the canvas and cut the white glare. I find this the only good use for any 'flesh' named paint.. the earth as corporeal. Onwards!

20x30          oil on canvas           NFS Finally! I am calling this finished.... cruising in for the night on the magnificent Lake Powell. This started from a photo from one of my houseboat expeditions.. [it has changed significantly from that image]... to one expressing the beauty of reflected light into this unknown cove and the peace of nightfall... Sanctuary.

Still working on this piece...getting there. I am posting all these versions of a painting so you and my students can see how a painting might evolve. Complex works of art demand lots of problem-solving.. and answers that serve both the original conception and the painting's evolution towards a conclusion that presents itself as felt. This conclusion is usually not the artist's choice alone...the painting speaks and has it's own life.. it seeks full symbolic manifestation. The artist acts as a medium and a partner in this process.

I think there must be 20 pounds of paint on this by now... have been experimenting with colors and shape changes.. much easier to do in Photoshop than with wet paint layers. Now to refining from this stage and figuring out how I want to do the water. Water needs to be clean and not fuzzy.. so there is work to be done.

This is the kind of painting that one could re-paint many times. Since the basic composition is interesting.. I decided to experiment further.. more shape changes and increased the chroma ... a strong red orange light is being reflected from an unknown source on the left.. plus there is still the last rays of sunset on the top rocks. I will continue to refine this idea until it all comes together.  However.. since I have been working on this exclusively for so long now.. I am looking forward to the next project.. so this will be wrapped up soon. More color/ value adjustments on the rocks and then the final glistening effects on the water.

Here is where this painting stands today.. I decided to emphasize the reflected light coming into the cove from the left.. lightens the formations considerably.. but since there is a lot of light in the sky yet I think this will work. I added a few bushes on the slopes.. and adjusted values again [and again]. Rocks are about 90% done.. soon on to the water challenge!

I thought this painitng was going to be rather easy to do...no such luck. I am still working my way through the rock structures and trying to decide if I need to make it warmer or cooler. Slow going on this...here is the current version as of this evening. I am also in the middle of creating a new website from scratch...so my studio time has been usurped. Gotta be done tho!

Here is today's effort.. more painting on the rocks and the dark dark underpainting for the water. After this dries somewhat.. I will apply thin paint in lighter colors for the reflections.. but the rocks need to be mostly finished before attempting this.

Taking the underpainting from the previous post further... refined the drawing of the shapes and experimented with this uncommon limited palette: naples yellow, jaune brilliant, yellow ochre, orange ochre, mars violet, permanent madder, cobalt turquoise, cobalt blue and mineral violet... basically using the complementary pair.. yellows and purples. I can mix wonderful soothing colors from this combination.. the mood and light of this must be maintained by close values and subtle temperature changes within the shapes. Interesting!

24x24     oil on canvas I decided on a major change... now there is a larger juniper tree in the foreground and more bushes on the slopes. I needed to break-up the orange shape on the right.. it was too much and was competing with the main focus.. the towering citadel of stone. I also needed to balance the dark masses ..more of an entrance feeling. So don't be afraid to go for it.