Autumn Dusting Small Prints Now Available

Autumn Dusting - 60" x 36" oil on canvas by Greg Newbold

I just wanted to let everyone know that prints of my large painting Autumn Dusting are now available Just in time for Christmas!. They are approximately 13" x 8" on archival heavyweight paper and are priced at $25 apiece. Shipping to most domestic U.S. locations is $3-5. If you want one or more. Please contact me at the above email address. I accept PayPal and Square. Merry Christmas everyone!

Autumn Dusting Sold at Springville Salon

Autumn Dusting (Mount Olympus)- 36" x 60" oil on canvas by Greg Newbold

Last week I got a lovely check for the sale of my painting "Autumn Dusting". I was part of the 90th Annual Springville Spring Salon, which is a distinct honor as well. At 36" x 60", this work is my largest oil painting to date meaning the sale was consequently the largest price netted for one one of my oil paintings. I am a little wistful to see the painting go, but I know the collector will enjoy it and I can afford to keep painting a little longer. It sets a nice precedent of value for my work in the gallery arena which is also good. Well, no time to rest on my laurels. Back to the easel!

Autumn Dusting in 90th Annual Spring Salon

Autumn Dusting (Mt. Olympus)- 36" x 60" Oil on canvas by Greg Newbold

I am proud to announce that my painting Autumn Dusting has been accepted into the 90th Annual Spring Salon at the Springville Museum of Art. I am always happy to be accepted an I was pleased to see many of my friends and several former students on the accepted list. The announcement of the award winners is yet to come, so my fingers are still crossed for that also. The show opens this Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014 and runs through July 6th.

Previous post about Autumn Dusting progress

I have Joined Meyer Gallery - Park City, UT!

I am thrilled to announce that I have joined Meyer Gallery in Park City, Utah. Meyer Gallery has been a cornerstone of the Park City gallery community for as long as I can remember and they were at the top of my list when I decided to expand my gallery representation, so I am pleased that they are as excited as I am to partner together. It is a privilege for me to be associated with such a prestigious galley and I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with them.

Autumn Dusting- 36" x 60" oil by Greg Newbold

Included in my offerings at the gallery is "Autumn Dusting", 36' x 60"; oil on canvas. Check out all of my paintings that are currently hanging at Meyer Gallery here.

Autumn Dusting - Nearly Finished

Autumn Dusting- oil on canvas 36" x 60" by Greg Newbold

Just about finished with this big Mount Olympus painting. A few more adjustments here and there and I will call it done. This is the largest oil painting I have done to date and I am pretty pleased with it. It's interesting to paint this large and to see what tendencies are accentuated in the process of scaling up from small work. One thing that for sure seems to be coming through is my desire to stylize shapes. I found myself wanting to let the large planes rule and to eliminate non essential detail. For instance, I wanted to let the majesty of the mountain dominate, so I eliminated the entire neighborhood of houses that crouches on the foothills. I felt that the myriad shapes and roof lines were just distracting to the overall statement so, poof, they are gone. It's a better painting as a result. Now to order up a frame.

See the study and block in for this painting here

Blocking In

Study for Autumn Dusting- 16" x 9.5"- Oil on board by Greg Newbold

Yesterday I dug in to a new canvas, yet another view of Mount Olympus, I shot the photo reference that was the inspiration for this view from the roof of my house. I felt like this view needed scale to convey the power and grandeur of the mountain, so, at 3' x 5',  I am once again tackling the largest canvas I have ever attempted. I did a small scale study to figure out the shapes and colors which has already helped immensely.

Even though I am only roughly halfway through this block in stage, I am glad I took the time to do the study. For the block in, I am using the same limited color palette I chose for the small version: Yellow Ochre, Napthol Red, Ultramarine Blue, Titanium White and Ivory Black. I wanted to see how tonal I could make this, consistent with the vibe the reference was giving me. I even started the study sans the blue in an attempt at doing landscape with the Zorn palette, but I felt it was just too limiting, so I added the blue. I may yet add a couple more colors as I bring this to finish, but I like the neutral tones and the overall consistency of the colors so far. We shall see. A painting always seems to take on a life of it's own and sometimes you have to follow your gut and listen to what the work tells you. Sometimes the road map only points you in the direction you think you want to go, not that spectacular place that you only get to see if you venture off a little.
Sorry for the inconsistent lighting on the left of the photo. In case you are wondering, the 36" x 60" gallery wrap canvas was prepared with four coats of acrylic gesso that I pounce on with a 2" beat up house painting brush, sanding in between coats, followed by burnt sienna acrylic applied with a kitchen sponge. Preliminary drawing is charcoal which was drawn with the help of 12" grid lines. Not as accurate as a projector, but it lets me get the feel for the scale of the canvas. I will update as the painting progresses.

Mount Olympus- Rough Stage

Mt. Olympus (work in progress) 24" x 20" oil on canvas by Greg Newbold

I get basically this view out my front door every morning with the exception of the foreground elements. Mount Olympus rises from the valley floor to a height of 9,026 feet and is one of the most recognizable and picturesque peaks in the Wasatch range. I love seeing it every day and I figured it was about time I painted it. One evening a few weeks back, just after a spring snow, I took my camera in search of an angle that would eliminate most of the houses that pack the base of the mountain. I wanted an uncluttered vista that would focus on the geometry of the peak. It was just minutes before the sun would set as I hopped on the belt route to look for a high bench spot in which to capture the last light of the day. Lucky for me, I found a commercial building on top of a rise on the east bench of Salt lake City that backed onto a sage and tree filled empty lot. The clouds parted just enough for me to capture the setting light as it illuminated the peaks and the foreground trees and sage. This is the first pass and I will probably put in at least two more painting sessions before it is done, but I like to get the initial statement down as quickly as I can. This is probably about 3-4 hours of painting time including the drawing.