Outliers

Outliers   oil/canvas   14 x 11 x .5

 We hike a lot.  We also notice trees a lor.  Our favorite walks take place at a reservoir close to our  home.  Trees that are vertical, healthy and upright abound.  Then there are those in the midst of being uprooted and have been caught in the hooks of the verticals, waiting to fall.  Vertical, to us, seems correct...all alive and well.  Horizontals are restful with a lack of energy.  (kind of like falling asleep on the couch at the end of the day)  But those diagonals give us pause....those forms caught in the interim between alive and restful.  So..........these outliers cling to vertical, yet lean towards the fall.  Are these trees leaning into the earth or into the water?  Tension.  And yet they cling.

A bit like us humans.

This painting was referenced by a photo taken on one of our winter outings.  While I do not paint many landscapes, the tension of these trees is undeniable.

Format

Long Tall Amy   watercolor   19.5 x 10

The planning of a painting is a particularly exciting event! Among the decisions we have to make, format is one of the most important. There are also psychological reasons why one way may be better than another. Horizontal formats mimic the sleep position and are restful, peaceful and non-stressing. Vertical formats are more energetic and lively. A diagonal subject on either conduces a bit of anxiety as we mentally determine which way that subject will fall and reposition itself. Very exciting. I guess that I prefer a vertical format, probably because I enjoy painting the human figure. Even my landscapes are likely to be vertical. Today I am painting a beautiful sleeping cat in a horizontal format. Because I like to overstate my preferences, I usually prefer verticals and horizontals that go beyond the standard rectangle sizes....i.e. twice as high as wide, or twice as wide as tall. "Long Tall Amy" is a painting of a tall thin young girl. Even though she is seated, I hope to provide evidence for her beautiful aesthetically pleasing height by using an extreme vertical format.