Fading Color- Highway 9, LaVerkin

Fading Colors- Highway 9, LaVerkin; 12" x 9" Oil, by Greg Newbold

On a painting trip to Zion National Park with painter and friend David Meikle, we raced the sunset back toward Toquerville to see if we could capture the last light on some of the buttes. Light was fading fast but we managed to get back to this spot along the Highway 9 and snap a few photos. I am constantly amazed by the beauty of the state in which I live. It's always fun to capture a moment like this in paint. This one will be available at Alderwood Fine Art in Salt Lake City in the next little bit.

Storm Over Kolob- Bridging the Gap

Storm Over Kolob- 30" x 40" ; oil on canvas by Greg Newbold

One of the risks you run as an artist is knowing when to call something done. I have been painting hard on this first large canvas for about a week now and I think it is about finished. At the same time, when working on a picture like this, I find that the gap between my artistic intent and what actually made it to canvas is larger than what I wanted. I know that at some point, I just have to quit and call it done, but I am still making mental gyrations to figure out if there is something I could have done differently or that I could still do to close the gap between my vision and reality. I guess in many ways, this is a good thing. At least I know I fell a bit short. Too often when I teach, I see students that not only don't realize what is wrong with a piece, but they don't even see the gap. They don't see the problems or what would make it better. Over time, some figure it out but some never do. The rest of us keep striving to close the gap, to make what we envision in our minds become real on the canvas. Have any of you felt this same way? What do you do to bridge the gap? 

Near Grafton - Morning - SOLD!

Near Grafton - Morning 8" x 10" oil by Greg Newbold

Thanks to Williams Fine Art for another sale. This one certainly didn't hang around the gallery for too long. It is interesting to watch and learn as things sell (or don't sell quickly enough). I am trying to decipher what the common denominators are in those quick sales other than good painting. Whatever it is, this one had it. I even had a disappointed collector contact me when he missed out on this one. Hopefully I can make him happy with something else.

See my other available paintings at Williams Fine Art

Near Grafton Finished

Near Grafton- 8" x 10" oil by Greg Newbold

I just finished up another of the paintings I began on location in and around Zion National Park. This one, painted on the road to Grafton (the ghost town used in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) shows a morning view toward Zion. Though I risk losing a bit of the spontaneity of brushwork when I go back into pieces after the fact, I think the trade off in clarity is usually worth it. I like this one better now that I have worked it a little more. i focused primarily on atmospheric value adjustments, edges and added a bit of missing detail. Some folks can capture all that in the field, but I am not there yet. See the field process in a previous post here. This piece will be sent to my gallery Williams Fine Art as soon as it is dry.

Ron Spears Paints Zion National Park

Regulars here probably saw the posts I did about my two trips to paint in Zion National Park last year. Well on the first trip I had the privilege of painting with my good friend Ron Spears who was spending time as the park's artist in residence. He is an amazing artist and teacher at Southern Utah University.


Ron did some incredible paintings in those two weeks as well as the ensuing months and it has been documented in a nice short film. If you love painting outdoors, or simply love visiting places like Zion, have a look at this 8 minute film.

Here are a couple of my posts from that painting trip to Zion National Park:

Painting in Zion Part 1
Painting in Zion Part 2
Painting the Virgin River-Zion Part 1
Painting the Virgin River-Zion Part 2

Zion en Plein Air

Zion Shadows - 8" x 8" - oil study, by Greg Newbold

Yesterday, I showed the first result from last weekend's painting trip to Zion National Park and Southern Utah. As with any painting trip, there are successful paintings and ones that are less so. This trip for me was a breakthrough in that I felt pretty good about every one of my pictures. Some I liked for the paint quality and color (like yesterday's post) and others I liked because of compositional or abstract qualities.

This painting was the last effort of our first day and we had to work quickly to get something down. Late fall sunlight moves quickly in the evening so we tried to keep this study around an hour. It is always a challenge to capture scenery as big as Zion without getting too busy and losing focus. I chose to crop and focus on a certain area of the mountain. I really like how the light and shadow shapes play off of one another and the abstract quality this creates. I think this study is worthy of being worked up into a larger painting.

Painting Near Grafton

I went to Southern Utah on a plein air painting trip last weekend with friend and fellow painter Richard Hull. Our first stop was Grafton, Utah, a ghost town best known as a location in the Robert Redford/Paul Newman film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. On the road near what is left of the town, I found a subject I liked overlooking a gnarly old tree in it's full golden fall splendor. The hazy blue outcroppings of Zion National Park are in the distance.

Here is a progression of the image and where I stopped painting after the light changed too much. One of these days I will learn to capture a finished statement in the time I have before the light is gone, but until then, I will be content to finish them up in studio.

In Maynard Dixon's Footsteps - Part 2

Last week I showed my photo of the fields of Toquerville, UT compared to a painting done by Maryard Dixon in 1933. After I realized that we had stopped at the same vista, I started wondering if there were other spots we had seen or painted on our trip that had also been painted by Dixon.

Subsequently, my friend Dave Meikle who went on the trip with me sent me the above painting. It is exactly the same vista that we chose for our first painting of the trip, but in the afternoon and without all the Dixon drama.

I hesitate to even show the painting I did it since I think it is pretty much a dismal failure as it is. I do think I can use it as an under painting and pull it out of the weeds, but it was pretty disappointing way to start the trip. The pieces did get better after that first one, so all was not lost.

Every time you pick up a brush outdoors, you want to do a good picture since it is always a one shot deal to paint plein air. The truth is that it doesn't always work out. Once I learned that, it was a lot easier to swallow a  "bonk" like this one. Looking at Dixon's interpretation, I am humbled, but determined to make the next one better.

Painting The Virgin River - Zion - Part 2

Boulders on the Virgin - Zion, 8" x 10" Oil; by Greg Newbold

 Here is my second attempt at the Virgin River painted during the early afternoon at Zion National Park. It was interesting that this subject didn't seem to suffer from the dramatic shadow shifts that some of the other Zion vistas exhibited.

 

I think I was more successful at capturing a range of value and color than the first painting I posted last time. I like the arrangement of shapes and the contrasts of the rushing water in this one and for the most part it works. I think this subject will make a nice larger painting and I'm looking forward to taking it on again sometime.

 

The view was stunning- what a pleasure to paint in this spot, despite the heat of the day.

Painting the Virgin River - Zion - Part 1

 On the second day of my recent painting trip to Zion National Park, we decided to take on the challenge of painting moving water.

Perched on a rock right at the water's edge

I had never attempted painting a river en plein air, so I was excited to take on the challenge.

early stage- blocking in

 I liked trying to capture the contrasting colors  and values of the rocks above and beneath the water.

Virgin River Ripple- 8" x 8" oil on panel, Greg Newbold

My first attempt shown here was fairly successful but I felt that I could have pushed the warm/cool contrasts in the water and introduced a few more cool greens. That said, I enjoyed the process and like the abstract shapes that the rocks make.

In Maynard Dixon's Footsteps

Fields of Toquerville- Maynard Dixon, 16 x 20; oil- 1933

I traveled to Zion National Park to paint last month with fellow Artists David Meikle  and Ron Spears. Along the way we tried to find some of the vistas that Maynard Dixon painted including this place just a few miles outside of Zion in Toquerville, Utah. Below is my photo of the same place.

Funny how very little the view has changed since Dixon painted it in 1933. We even arrived at this place at roughly the same time of day based on shadows. Dixon probably painted his version maybe around 9:00-10:00 am. I am looking forward to painting my own version sometime in the future.

Painting in Zion - Part 2

We painted this vista in the mid afternoon of the first day of our painting trip to Zion National Park. After a dismal failure in my first attempt of the day (which I'll show sometime next week) I was looking forward to redeeming myself.

We took the shuttle bus up the canyon to a spot where you could see several famous formations including Angel's Landing, The Organ and The Great White Throne. I found a spot looking toward the back side of Angel's Landing where some Cottonwood trees were catching some great back lighting against the dark face of the rock. I ended up with some contrast and saturation issues that I will need to resolve, but I think that the structure and drama of the piece is working nicely.

Painting In Zion - A Spectacular Sight

I spent two days painting in Zion National Park this week with two artist friends. I had not been there for years and had forgotten what a spectacular sight the formations make at all times of day.

We painted hard on both days making three oil studies each day. Some were more successful than others and yet none of them are quite where I would call them finished. We spent around an hour and a half to two hours on each painting.

 I like how the sky and cliff face merge with my painting in this picture

Another (the first attempt of the trip after several months of not painting outdoors) was disappointing and I won't be showing it until it gets a major overhaul. I went for the big shapes and tried to capture the color and value. The details will have to wait as there was just too much to paint in limited time.

 

These are a couple of the views we painted complete with flaws. The light moved pretty quickly and it was tough to get a statement down before the light had completely changed. I tried to stick with my initial reactions but it is tough to not "chase the light". The second day we painted two views of the Virgin River as it rushed through the canyon. I'll show them in the next post.