Canyon Trail Reworked

Canyon Trail - Acrylic 11" x 14"

A couple of years ago I did a quickie job for a Christian magazine called Discipleship Journal. The article dealt with the concept of embracing adventure in your life and putting your path to that adventure in the hands of God. I initially wanted to just do a scenic trail, but the A.D. insisted that I include a hiker. Though I could see her point in the context of the article and it was the right thing for her needs, I still always felt the hiker looked like an afterthought and that it would have been a better picture without the figure.

Canyon Trail as it was printed in the magazine

Last week a collector friend of mine wanted me to dig out some pictures I might consider selling. I gave him the choice of a couple dozen and he chose this one- but only if I painted out the figure. Remembering how I had always disliked the figure anyway, I readily agreed. I spent a few hours reworking the bottom right hand quarter of the composition as well as finishing and repainting other areas that I had left because of time constraints. You'll notice many subtle changes throughout the picture such as brighter highlights and reflected lights, more subtle temperature transitions, etc as a result of this over painting.  Also, I applied added knowledge I have gained about landscape painting and I think the piece is a much stronger painting as a result. My collector was thrilled to get the reworked piece and I admit I ended up being a bit sad to see it go. That's just one of the many things I will have to deal with as I move more into gallery type sales- letting go of the original.

This topic previously on Life Needs Art

Overpainting part 2

Lady of the Camelias - Acrylic/mixed on illustration board

Seen here as it ran for the playbill and poster

I did a series of paintings a few years ago for the Pioneer Theatre Company. One of the pictures was for a new play called Alexadre Dumas & the Lady of the Camelias. It was about Dumas, the man who wrote the novel upon which Verdi based his opera La Traviata. In the play he reminisces about his love affair with the woman he based his book upon, all while a rehearsal of La Traviata plays out on stage.

Reworked version eliminated the old man

I fought to not include the old man in the picture and focus instead on the love story, since I felt it looked like he was leering at the young lovers. Alas, I was overruled and I reluctantly included him in the background. I was always dissatisfied with it, so when I got the painting back from the client, I painted him out. I like this version better, but you can decide for yourselves.

Overpainting: Triumph or Tragedy?

On Friday I posted a retrospective on the work of Arnold Friberg. I love his work and by no means do I intend this post to diminish the work of an incredible artist, but I thought the following comparison worthy of contemplation. The following painting demonstrates the danger an artist can fall into when they revisit their own work. We have all done it. I have over painted or retouched a number of my own paintings over the years (I'll post an example tomorrow). I think any artist has the prerogative to change anything he creates if it is still in his possession, but when does such an effort cross over from improving a work to ruining one?

The Risen Lord - by Arnold Friberg

The above Painting by Arnold Friberg was painted sometime in the 1960's - I couldn't locate an exact date - but have heard that it was sometime after his iconic Book of Mormon Paintings were completed and sold to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is evident that Friberg was at the height of his dramatic and compositional powers at the time. This particular work was never sold to the church because, as the story goes, the brethren of the church had asked Friberg to paint the robe of Christ to cover his chest and Arnold refused and kept the painting. Fast forward to around 2005 and you get the following version of the same painting.

The Light of Christ - by Arnold Friberg

after it had been extensively over painted 

I saw it at a special exhibit that was held in 2006 of his Ten Commandments paintings and was shocked to see how different it looked from the version I remembered. Surely this was a different version because I figured that there was no way that an artist whose work was so valuable and revered would so severely over paint such a popular and well known work. The curator indicated that it was indeed the same painting but that Friberg had extensively over painted it to achieve what he deemed a more holy effect of light. He even changed the title to "The Light of Christ" In comparing the two, you can see numerous differences, most notably the light source which now seems to emanate from the risen Lord, but he also changed costumes, beards, skin tones and hairstyles throughout the painting. The change in lighting also flattened out the modeling on many of the faces to what I think is almost a cartoonish level. From my own perspective, I feel that he dramatically diminished one of the most stunning depictions of Christ I had ever seen. One can only hope that in the wake of his passing, someone will purchase the painting and have it restored to it's former glory by removing the subsequent layers of paint. I would think that it might be possible if he did not resort to severe scraping before the over working was done. Everyone can draw their own conclusions as to whether Friberg improved or ruined the painting, but I believe he should have let it stand as it was when he first painted it.