Art by Gordon: Coming Full Circle: Back to basics 1: Details and perspective

2013 Paint Rowlett, Plein Air Art Competition

My idea with painting has always been to perfect realism before interjecting my form of the surreal.
Instead I feel like the older waterfalls approached realism only to depart quite suddenly to softer, edges, more vibrant colors and a bit more feeling of expression versus realism.

I have recently come back full circle to the basics of perspective to achieve depth and perfecting not only the structure of composition but the values to achieve value and interest. This redefined priority of skill in detail versus overall feeling of light and place has brought my paintings to a new level.

I have recently entered a contest, paint Rowlett, Plein Air Art Competition, it is the second time I entered the contest. Last time I painted a Koi pond on a private property, a local cemetery and Paddle Point on Lake Ray Hubbard. It was kind of a marathon and I couldn't inject as much detail in the paintings due to time restraints.

2013 Paint Rowlett Plein Air Contest

This year I was determined to do more with less. I painted the horse stables on Miller Road and Dexham in Rowlett. It was one of the most tactical and intentional paintings I have done, I started with a fence that set up the light play and lead the eye back into the composition. The next process was a barrel which added a different color of blue not present anywhere else in the painting, this object brought the viewers eyes back to the fence and allowed the eye to follow back into the main subject which were a group of horses standing under the trees. Use of triangular patterns, changes in value and softening of light allowed great depth to take the viewers eye into the painting.

I was meticulous about the detail of the fence for f the fence failed the whole composition would not have worked. I used a very natural color pallet, not over indulging in color or richness to not distract the eye. In the end the final process was creating differences in the sizes and values of the leaves that allowed for shade and allowed a strengthened view of the perspective that takes the viewer into a time and place of late afternoon at the stables.

I worked up some sketches for the Mckenna Place on Main Street in Rowlett. I was so impressed, it's a magical place you might not even know exists, but I ran out of time, it is a very detailed image and I felt I could not give it the time and attention it deserved, I will still paint the image, it just didn't make the contest deadline. The owners were very friendly and gave me a bit of the history of the place, I even got to meet Wizard Wayne, someone who has many different talents and an inspiring set of skills-check out his website magicfunhouseproductions.

So for this next series, I am working on allowing the viewer to see different perspectives but at the same time I want details to be able to drive the quality of the composition. I want everything I include to have a purpose and an intentional accuracy that will bring my paintings to the next level. I hope there is a noticeable change in the upcoming series.