Kate Withers - 'Painting Space'

After extended camping expeditions to Utah and the outback of central Nevada [which was great!].. I returned to work on this piece... his is where it stands now. It has changed quite a bit from the original layout.. however.. I am still not satisfied with the design and will likely change it yet again. So.. back to the easel to solve this problem.

Slow going on this piece... getting the values and lighting right is a challenge. There is something about this that I am not happy with.. haven't been able to put my finger on it yet.. but I will. The halfway mark is usually the most difficult part of the painting. Each piece 'wants' to come to fruition and needs me to concentrate and be open.. it's a synergistic process. The next post will be the finished piece [maybe].. and I expect it will be quite different than this image [like what happened to the "Queen of Spades Range']. So back to the easel!

Last night I quickly did the color underpainting for this piece.. prussian blue, cadmium red light, and an earthy light red. I was able to do this so fast because the drawing I did earlier was easy to follow [one reason why drawing is important]. Of course there are always areas of a composition that are problematic.. but eventually they will be designed to belong. The concept has to do with the awe one feels when driving into Zion Canyon.. intimate yet grand.

The concept for this piece is based on a b&w photo I took while working in Zion Canyon last summer.   From that.. I drew with a brush and some muddy oil paint I had on my palette diluted with lots of thinner... just a rough sketch on the canvas.  This is only a guide.. the painting will evolve as it will when I add colors. Stay tuned!

I am calling this finished! Of course there are always tweaks to be done... but I am on to the next project.. a large painting of the road into Zion Canyon. The concept of this piece came from the painting's title. *There really isn't a range named the 'Queen of Spades'* .. it is named for the strong paisley patterns that are found on the alluvial slopes of deep desert mountains. So here it is.. 24 x 24 oil on canvas. *Update a couple years later:  I am re-working this painting yet again!  I guess I just needed some time away from it .. I was never happy with the composition .. the balance was lopsided.. really liked the concept tho.. so back to the drawing board it goes :)

Getting towards the finish on this piece.. paint is too wet for the final layer.  I changed the design yet again and added more color... the warm reflected light from the sky on the alluvial fan below.  Still have to figure out the foreground and the cast shadow area.  The next post on this painting will be when it is completely finished [never!] Hopefully soon...

If you have looked at the previous posts you will have seen my progress.. still have a ways to go. Naturally I had to change colors several times and am contemplating making the foreground all in shadow... not sure I want that much dark.. maybe.  Anyway here is the day's work:

Today's work left me at about the halfway mark.. spent time adjusting the design and also decided to show some shadow from the mountain ... that put the dry lake in darkness.. I didn't think viewers would understand the lighting if only the mountains were in shadow.  Added a few more colors... cadmium red light, permanent madder, and cobalt blue.. hard to use just a few!

Here is today's effort... the first layer of paint over the blue underpainting.  The medium I am using is an exotic smelling mixture.. spike lavender oil, dammar varnish, stand oil, and real turpentine... pungent and intoxicating.. wonderful!  So far the colors used are gold ochre, terra rosa, prussian blue and ultramarine deep.  The values need major adjusting and you can see the design has already changed.. and will again as it evolves.. a somewhat complex patterned piece. I painted while listening to the great Beethoven's third... music while working is inspiring... puts bounce in the brush.  This piece is like a giant puzzle... all the colors and shapes have to work together... a symphony in paint.

Back in the studio! The above image is the original concept pencil sketch for this painting from my sketchbook.. and below is the underpainting done with one of my favorite colors.. prussian blue. I find it much better than the popular thalo.. it has subtle qualities especially when mixed. This piece will be painted using a limited palette.. more on that later... but the focus is on design.. the paisley patterns of a desert alluvial fan ending in a luminous dry lake bed. The light is late afternoon with most of the mountains in shadow... hence the blue blue underpainting. This is on a 24x24 gallery-wrapped canvas that will require very little framing if any...  maintaining a contemporary abstract feel. The values here are not what they will be with color... the shapes are what I needed as a guideline for my paint strokes and are not set in stone. We will see where this goes...

It is now the end of May in Zion.. so fabulous.. I cannot tell you how wonderful... the feeling of sanctuary.  Lots of rain this spring.. flowers and birdsong.. the Virgin River in full bore.  Hope to post some new paintings soon!

Okay... after procrastinating and generally goofing off... I am back in front of the easel. The above image is of a large 30x40 canvas I have been working on seemingly forever... on and off for a couple years anyway.. an intimate view just below the rim of the Grand Canyon. I will try to finish it so I can start another big beautiful painting.. this time of one of my favorite places in the Southwest.. Lake Powell. I am focusing on large work now...small paintings are good to practice a technique or try out an aspect of color theory.. but the real thrill is in painting big.

A few photos of our new environs in Great Basin National Park...  will post better images of this beautiful Park in the near future.. but for now.. a taste of this high elevation desert camp. .. of the fishing creeks behind camp.. lots of water here.. unusual for Nevada .. my temporary painting studio this summer... one of our smaller canvas wall tents.. will be laying out the oils very soon! .. the early morning view of one of the roads from our front door.. huge ponderosas with a dusting of snow ... 7600'

As promised in my last post.. here are a few photos of SpaceCamp in the southern Arizona outback. We plan to spend next winter in the same spot.. peace and quiet and lots of desert wildlife. .. the view from my studio as the rays of the setting sun turn the world golden .. the last light on desert formations... the magic of the Southwest .. a view of SpaceCamp as I was walking back to camp.. my studio is the tent on the left .. the purples and violets of the afterglow... lots of iridescent colors SpaceCamp from the 'back'.. completely self-sufficent off-the-grid.. solar powers everything.. wind power generator for non-sunny days... hose tripods and dishes are for the satellite internet and satellite tv.. all the comforts. my studio is on the right.. buckled up for the night in case a windstorm kicks up. Quite a nomadic setup.

We are in the process of moving SpaceCamp to the high elevations of Great Basin National Park. Since I am not painting these past couple weeks.. I will post a few photos of a more personal note.. interior shots of my canvas tent studio when it was set up near the rim of the Grand Canyon for three years. Fellow artists would be interested to peruse my working space.. always good to see other art studios.. I know it always gives me energy to continue. So here they are... .. working on 'Nankoweap Noon' .. a 30x40.. still working on the comp .. how I organize my paints [spectrum layout... warm to cool of each color group.. and always way more colors than I need just in case I decide to try a different color than my usual palette..  I own over 250 oils [not all displayed here].. always room for a new color .. my computer work area and one of my small desert studies .. sold already .. working at night ... those are 5000k daylight fluorescents above the easel ...

Record temperatures right now in the Southwest. Here at SpaceCamp in the low deserts of southern Arizona.. I am sitting in front of a solar powered fan. It is almost sundown and still almost 100 degrees. While working in my studio this morning.. I accidentally knocked over my container of turps.. evaporated almost immediately.. didn't even have to wipe it up! In a couple weeks we will be trekking north to Nevada for a short visit and retooling at my father's place.. then we are heading up to Great Basin National Park to be campground hosts until late fall.. 7800'.. so it should be cool. We will be camped on the banks of a trout stream.. Lehman campground. If you are in the vicinity.. you are welcome to visit.. posted is a photo of my tent studio which will be set up by the creek. So enduring this unprecedented heat wave will make it that much sweeter when we are in the mountains. A new adventure!