Daylight's Last Breath

Daylight's Last Breath - Mt. Olympus; 24" x 20" oil on canvas by Greg Newbold

I just finished this painting of Mount Olympus that I started a couple of months back. It's always a breath of fresh air to have this same view out my front door, but until now, I had never painted it. It was so much fun painting the slopes and crevices of this mountain face, that I have another view of this slope in the planning. Rest assured that it will find it's way onto the blog as it happens. This painting will be showing at the grand opening of the new Alderwood Fine Art gallery space (Formerly Williams Fine Art) this weekend on Friday evening during the gallery stroll. If you get a chance to check it out, I have been informed that there will be substantial munchies provided. The gallery is now located at 641 East, South Temple St. in Salt Lake City. There is free parking and an entrance in the back if you enter off of H street.

Cottonwoods at Big Bend- Zion Canyon

Cottonwoods at Big Bend - Zion Canyon; Oil on panel- 9" x 12" by Greg Newbold

Here is another little painting I just delivered to my gallery Williams Fine Art. Once again, I took my field study into the studio and finished it up. Whenever I dig into these paintings, I notice tendencies that I want to correct in the field so that my plein air paintings end up more like finish paintings while on location. On thing I noticed with this one was that my sky was too dark. Not excessively, but enough that the correction made a difference. I really enjoy the silhouette of the back lit tree against the shadowy canyon wall. This one needed much less to finish it up than I anticipated. Once I had glazed over it to oil up the surface, everything popped and came back to life. The freshness of the field study was once again apparent and it came together pretty quickly from there.

Here is what the painting looked like after the field session

Gray Morning - Provo Bay

Gray Morning - Provo Bay 8" x 6" oil by Greg Newbold

I generally have a stack of plein air studies sitting around the studio. Some I never finish, but most of them will see a few more strokes and a finish varnish at some point. A few get a serious rework before I let them out the door. I am still trying to reach the point where the effort I make in the field is the result I am happy wit and feel no need to improve. This one was a particularly successful field study and it didn't need too much more to make it sparkle. It is now hanging at my gallery Williams Fine Art. At a cozy 6" x 8" I think this one is particularly affordable if you are wanting to own one of my works. Check out my other paintings being offered by Williams.

See the progression of this painting in the field session here.

Storm Over Kolob Finds Home in New Public Safety Building

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

I am pleased to announce that my painting "Storm Over Kolob" has been purchased for permanent display in the new Salt Lake City Public Safety Building. If you want to see it, they are holding public tours of new building through this weekend at 475 South 300 East in Salt Lake City, Utah. The painting is on display on the first floor just outside the main elevator bank. Because it is in a secured location, viewers will have to settle for a view from a few feet away, but I am assured it is visible and in a prominent place. I think the painting holds up well from a distance but I suspect employees will get the real pleasure from seeing it close up also. I am pleased to have another of my recent paintings find it's way into a permanent public collection on the heels of  the Springville Museum of Art's recent acquisition of "Beckoning the Peace of Wild Things". 

I also just delivered a couple of new paintings to my gallery Williams Fine Art in their new gallery space. Have a look at what is being offered if you missed out on this one. 

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.

Pulpit and Altar - Zion

Falling Shadows - (Pulpit and Altar - Zion) - 9" x 12" oil by Greg Newbold

I Just finished another painting from my recent trip to Zion National Park. This formation is at the top of the road in Zion Canyon is called the Pulpit and the Altar. I don't know which one is which but I was attracted to the way these two stones were silhouetted by the falling shadows on the canyon wall behind.

Cropped view of the Pulpit and Altar

We had about one hour before I knew we would lose light so I was putting down paint as fast as I could mix it. The shadows moved so fast toward the end of this one, that I had about five minutes  at the end to paint the entire foreground before I lost the light altogether.

In Progress- about 30 minutes in

I only have one progress shot of this one and I don't have a shot of how it looked before I touched things up in the studio, but the foreground was pretty messy. There is something exciting about trying to capture a fleeting moment in the field that I find hard to replicate when working straight from photos. This one is now at my gallery Williams Fine Art. I have a sneaking feeling it won't hang around there long.

Painting Parley's Canyon

Mouth of Parley's Canyon- 13.75 x 9.25 Oil by Greg Newbold

Recently I went out painting with my friend David Meikle. We chose a spot on Parley's Trail just off Tanner Park near the mouth of Parley's Canyon on the east bench of Salt Lake City.

Every time I go out I search for an objective in the scene I choose to paint. My goal for this piece was to capture the drama of the deep shadows on the north facing slopes of Grandeur Peak where the canyon opens up. Here is a little progression of what I painted that morning and how it finished up after I did a little tickling in the studio.

The clouds were ever changing and I could not capture quite what I wanted (as you can see from the first picture compared to the third) so I repainted the sky in the studio. I also wanted to tone down the warmth in the far slopes a bit to create more distance. I am really happy with how it turned out. After it is dry, it will be for sale at my gallery Williams Fine Art.

Young Angus

Young Angus - 9" x 12", Oil by Greg Newbold

I just finished this little piece that I started a few weeks back when I painted live at the Williams Fine Art summer barbecue. Click the link above to see what it looked like after the first session. I will now be sending it off to Williams to find a nice home somewhere. Good luck little cows!

Near Dusk - Sold

Near Dusk - 9" x 12" oil by Greg Newbold

Just got word that my little sunset painting entitled "Near Dusk" has sold at Williams Fine Art. This painting is my interpretation of what was a fleeting moment captured on a cell phone one winter evening. It is nice to always have a camera on hand (even a phone camera) since you never know when you might be inspired. This painting hung in my kitchen for quite a while, so it is a bit sad to see it go. I hope the new owners love it.

Demo At Williams FIne Art

Painting live at Williams Fine Art - Greg Newbold

Last Saturday evening the annual summer BBQ was held at Williams Fine Art. The gallery asked a few of the artists it represents to come and paint live for the patrons. Food was deliciously catered by The Red Iguana and after I had a nice plate of shrimp fajitas. I spent a couple of hours painting and talking with the patrons that wandered by my easel. I tried to treat it as much like painting en plein air as I could even though I was working from a photo.

Many visitors to the gallery commented on my photo. I had to admit that the photo is a montage of elements from at least three photos from the same location pieced together. I rarely work from a straight up photo, preferring instead to move , scale and adjust elements in Photoshop to arrive at a composition that I like.  It was fun to paint in front of a live albeit ever shifting audience. I had been itching to paint some more cows, so it was fun to get a good start on this one. I'll probably put in a couple more hours before I call it finished.

Rabbit Brush - Sold

 

I recently got a check for a small painting of a piece of sage brush that I did on location  in Bishop, California.The expanse of open space in this area of California was a challenge and delight to paint. I immediately liked this when I painted it and felt it was quite successful. It then hung in my house for several months and continued to grow on me. It has always been a bit melancholy for me to sell a piece of original art. For years I have accustomed myself to licensing out the rights of my illustration work to my clients and then having the paintings returned to me after their use. I am at a bit of a crossroads now in this regard. Most of my current illustration work is digital so there isn't even a physical artifact to hold in my hands and my focus has also expanded to gallery work where the whole objective is to sell the original art.

Wow, what a contrast! I am slowly coming to grips with letting my paintings go. I have shifted my attitude in order to be excited that I get to share my work with others. The emphasis is now on the creation process instead of the end result. In the sharing and not the keeping. Besides, I have WAY too many old paintings stacked up in my studio and its time to let them go.

See my latest offerings at Williams Fine Art

Butte With Bales

Butte With Bales- 10" x 16" oil on panel by Greg Newbold

Just finished this painting of a nice Southern Utah butte with a field of hay below it. I am constantly amazed at both the formations of the landscape here in Utah as well as the tenacity of the people that live and work on this arid land.

Here's how it looks in its nice 22k antique gold frame.

This piece will be going to my gallery Williams Fine Art on Monday morning. Hopefully it will find a nice home.

Up Taylor Creek - Kolob

Up Taylor Creek-Kolob, 6" x  8", iol on panel by Greg Newbold.

I just finished this little piece I started on location last fall at Kolob Canyon, Utah. I had some issues resolving the complexity of the middle ground and opted to simplify the planes somewhat. That simplification seemed to solve my concern and I am pretty happy with how it turned out. This one will be going to my gallery Williams Fine Art in the next few days along with the companion piece I showed earlier this week.

Kolob Canyon Finished

Early Light - Kolob, 8" x 10", oil on canvas panel.

I just finished up a couple of paintings I started on location last fall at Kolob Canyon, Utah. Neither of these was where I hoped they would be by the time I lost the lighting pattern altogether, so I figured I would tickle them up in the  studio before sending them off to my gallery. They will both probably be hanging at Williams Fine Art shortly. This one is 8" x 10", oil on Raymar panel. I don't usually use canvas panels, but I was out of 8x10 size and bummed this one off my friend Ron Spears as we painted together. I am usually annoyed by the weave of canvas panels, so I make my own by putting a few coats of gesso on  Masonite, but this weave was a pretty tight linen and worked pretty well. I'll show the other one later.

Misty Morning - Sold

Misty Morning (Midway) 14" x 24" Oil on board.

"I accidentally sold your painting" was the message on my machine the other day. The caller was Vern Swanson, director of the Springville Museum of Art. Of course I was initially confused since I had marked the painting as NFS when dropping it off as one of my entries in the 88th Spring Salon. I called Vern and he explained the situation. A collector had wanted to buy my other entry Canyon Romance but was informed that it was already sold. I had marked Misty Morning as not for sale because I had pulled it from my gallery Williams Fine Art to enter into the show and did not want to step on any toes by selling it out from under them. So to make a long story short(ish) a couple of phone calls later, Springville worked out the commission with the gallery, the painting is sold (though it didn't even make the show)and all is well. Except then I found out that my wife really loved that painting after months of hanging in our living room. Now its gone. I guess I will have to paint another one that she can love. 

New Paintings At Williams Fine Art

View North of Heber- 6" x 8" Oil

I finished up a couple of small paintings that are now on display at Williams Fine Art. 

East of Midway- 6" x 8" Oil

This weekend is the Annual 30% Off sale at Williams so if you are thinking about getting some new art, head on down and pick up some good deals. Several of my paintings will be on discount during the even. The sale goes until 8:00 pm Today and Tomorrow and until 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.

County Line- 6" x 8" Oil

Williams Fine Art is located at 200 East South Temple, Suite 100

At Bird-In-Hand- 12" x 12" Oil

An a side note, I just got word that my painting At Bird-In-Hand, shown above, sold this morning. I am pretty excited about that!

Canyon Romance - Almost Finished

Canyon Romance- Greg Newbold- oil, 24" x 24"

The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech nor by speech itself. The resources of the graphic art are taxed beyond their powers in attempting to portray its features... The glories and beauties of form, color and sound unite in the Grand Canyon... It has infinite variety and no part is ever duplicated. Its colors, although many and complex at any instant, change with the ascending and declining sun... You cannot see the Grand Canyon in one view...but to see it you have to toil from month to month through this labyrinths...but if strength and courage are sufficient for the task, by a year's toil a concept of sublimity can be obtained never again to be equaled on hither side of Paradise."

John Wesley Powell - 1909

We can behold what a river and time are capable of creating, but can anyone adequately capture the power and grandeur of the Grand Canyon? I am not sure, but this obstacle will not keep me or  countless other artists from trying. I am almost finished with this Grand Canyon painting. I have a few more passages that I want to push and a few highlights and details to add, but I think I am about 95% complete at this point.I am sure my gallery, Williams Fine Art, will be glad to see it.

See previous post of this painting in progress here

Gallery Announcement

Near Dusk- 9" x 12" Oil by Greg Newbold

I am pleased to announce that I have agreed to gallery representation with Williams Fine Art in Salt Lake City, UT. Williams is one of the premier galleries in the intermountain west and I am proud that they will be selling my work. In the upcoming days, the following paintings will find their way on the walls of the gallery.

At Bird-In-Hand- Oil, 12" x 12"

Afternoon Cottonwoods- Oil, 6" x 9"

Rabbit Brush- Oil, 8" x 8"

Bales- Oil, 8" x 8"

Hills West of Bishop- Oil, 6" x 8"

If you are in the area, please take a minute to go check them out. Williams also has a vibrant online presence and happily sells and ships artwork to anywhere. I am excited to see where this new partnership leads.