04 April 2011

Capturing the West

I have never been to the American West, but I have drawn outside, as well as hiked extensively, and this piece was composed for my second mentorship painting as part of a graduation requirement for PCA&D.
It is both a self-portrait (I put in some personal symbolism) and an exploration of landscape and atmosphere in the watercolor medium, which is still in its infancy concerning my use of it. It is also, in a minor way, an allusion to the earlier days of America, when exploring and mapping the wild, mysterious West was important.

I had a great time figuring this piece out, and I look forward to doing likewise with other works.
This piece will be used for my promotional postcard for Senior Show at PCA&D, as well as my main gallery piece on display.

"Capturing the West", 17 1/2 x 22", Watercolor, 2011.

Thanks to Gary Lippincott, for his helpful advice.
Printed material will be posted soon!




2 comments:

  1. Where to start? Beautiful thoughts, gorgeous content, lovely execution - a very textured and depthful piece! Your Hudson-River inspiration shows through very well, in technique and in philosophy - the windswept woman looking off and away, yet present and attentive in her work.

    Also, she is of course Evelyn Orchard, whom you helped so much to create.

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  2. Oh yay, now I have a comment on this piece!

    And thanks so much!

    That she is - for you - Evelyn Orchard is quite an honor. Thank you. She is me, of course, as I might have been in an alternate version of time-traveled, American wild-west. It is a piece of multifaceted inspiration and intent, not to mention it served a hugely important exploration for me.
    (Thanks, Gary).

    I look forward to reading that book, by the way.

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