#5 Varney Pairing $2200
by Peter Ferber
16×12″ image size, 19×15″ framed size
To purchase, please visit The Art Place, 9 N. Main Street, beginning on February 13, doors open at 9:30 a.m. or call (603) 569-6159 phone lines open at 9:40 a.m.
I’ve paired up this wonderful sky that I saw somewhere over Moultonborough Neck, with the great wilderness feel of this weather-worn silhouette of trees–a tiny taste of wildness not far from here in the Varney Islands. That’s the Belknap Mountains in the background, with the end of Barndoor Island in front, on the right. But all the landscape is really just a frame for this sky that I was focused on. The oil paint medium is wonderful to work with in creating the subtle effects, and flexible in allowing changes as needed until it “becomes” the sky I saw. I began with a deep purple (that would make a great song title!) which I used to lay out the over all cloud shapes. Then gave them dimension by adding pink highlights. That was followed by a dry-brush “scrumbling” of several layers of pink and yellow to soften everything, and cut the intensity of the purple. Next were added the windows of blue sky which created another layer of depth. Then I edged the clouds with the rim of lightest color. This is when the sense of light really became luminous. But there was still more scrumbling needed of a pinky-yellow over the whole area to further soften and blend it. Once that dried, I was able to put in the trees–first in dark, dark green shapes, to which were added orange and green highlights. Finally, I got out my magnifying glass and found two loons swimming into view!
Peter Ferber