Kate Withers - 'Painting Space'

5x7  oil on canvas panel   SOLD An oil study from a different perspective.. a bird's eye view above the northern canyons and the turquoise waters of Lake Powell in Utah... truly a painter's paradise.

6x6    oil on canvas     SOLD A quick study from the Lee's Ferry area...here the Colorado River flows swiftly down from Lake Powell.  This is the only spot to launch a boat and enter the Grand Canyon.. a thrilling adventure.   There is a great campground nearby.. but you wouldn't want to be there in the summer.. 100˚plus.  Fisherman prize this stretch of the river.. and if you stay in one of the quaint lodges nearby.. you will be sharing the space with fishermen, avid hikers, intrepid travelers, photographers.. and painters! Go there.

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 :)

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.

I decided on changing the shapes of the foreground rocks and tweaking the other forms somewhat. Also you can see the first layer of color on the water. I want to make it look like still dark water with a glossy foreground bow wake.. coming into 'sanctuary' for the night.

Since the rocks are nearly finished [except for fine touches]...  will be painting the water next. If all goes well it should not take long. I put a thin glaze on the water surface already... and when that dries.. I will add more warm glazes and a few floaters on the glassy surface. The time of day and mood indicates a calm surface and a deep dark color with glowing reflections... now I just have to do it :)

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!

Today's effort focused on painting the sky and cooling the formations as they turned from the reflected light. More work to do!

I am into the refinement stage on the rocks now... the water reflections won't be painted until the formations are 90% finished. Time to get out my mediums and start mixing with the oils for the final layers. I will be using a high-gloss mixture of spike solvent, varnish, stand oil and turps for the water.. and a dammar varnish, stand oil, wax/turps mix for the rocks and sky [a much more matte medium]... this will add to the sandstone texture instead of too glossy. I also might pull out the palette knife for a few thick pieces of paint on the foreground rocks. Since there is not a lot of depth in this composition.. I will use some texture for contrast.

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!

Here is the initial underpainting of my current project.. cobalt turquoise and magenta only.. 20x30 canvas. This will be painted from a photo I took while working at Lake Powell one summer while on one of my many houseboat expeditions. The concept is on feeling.. the quiet hour at sunset looking for a good place to shelter the boat for the night. The water is usually calm then... the desert winds dying down... the massive rocks veiled in soft grayed colors. Peace reigns.

On a blustery early September afternoon I was out for a drive.  After awhile.. I stopped along Lake Yellowstone's shores and after walking a few minutes I found this area.  Small quiet rivulets of hot water were sliding down to the Lake's cold cold waters.. the white chalky rocks.. the expanse of blue water.. the wind off the Lake was fierce.  I was blown away [well almost].  Here is an impression of that experience from my studio where no winds prevail. 8x10     oil on canvas panel       SOLD

8x10      oil on canvas panel       $225 unframed price includes shipping Purchase info Wheeler Peak is the second highest mountain in Nevada.. surpassed only by Boundary Peak on the Nevada/California border. Here [where my studio is for the summer].. on the Utah/Nevada stateline.. is Great Basin National Park with wonderful old-time campgrounds and plenty of water [for now]. There used to be large glaciers on Wheeler... but as this painting shows.. there are just a few patches left from it's former glorious white mantle. This piece depicts a scene from the Alpine Lakes Loop Trail.. all above 10,000' in the high thin air and intense sunlight.

This is a page from one of my sketch books.. an idea for a large oil painting of water as it hits the submerged rocks in the Colorado River.. the force and beauty of the spray as it catches the light.. the backdrop a stylized version of the desert along the river. The main design to work out is the pattern of the spray and also to try to capture the translucent nature and weight of the water as it rolls by.   And all this action is lit by the late morning light.. refracting.. a feeling of diamonds throw in the air.. liquid magic.

5x7   oil on canvas panel   Sold One of my more imaginative paintings.. the personification of the canyon formations.. the swirling colors of the Colorado River... mid-morning light. These small oils have a monumental quality that can translate well to a larger canvas... a fairytale come to life.

24x30      oil on canvas in a gold carved frame     $2500    email me for purchase info I wish you could see this in person... the last light on the mesa tops with the subtle reflected colors far below... very difficult to get a good digital image of the nuances. Poetry of the quiet time of day. The incessant winds in this part of the country are finally quiet... the sun driven energy softens to the solace of dusk. This large piece is cradled in a nouveau-modern heavy wood antiqued gold frame with carved vine patterns.

5x7     oil on canvas panel    SOLD It is a real challenge to portray rushing water.. the rocks magnified under the glass-like clear sheen of the surface .. the movement of the flow.. the turbulence of the waves.  And at the same time making sure to paint the reflection colors so they make sense. In actuality.. painting water is very abstract exercise. The edges and shapes generally should be clean for the best results... no blurry edges or fuzziness. This study is just that.. a study.. a foray into the magic of water.