Colorado Landscape Series: Grand Valley

When the car you are riding in is zipping down Interstate 70 at 65 miles an hour and you yell to the driver, "Stop!", you have to have a very understanding driver. Fortunately, I did. My husband, Robert, gets it. He's a team player when it comes to my painting, supporting me above and beyond what would seem reasonable to others. And so, on this gorgeous October morning, he stepped on those brakes just in time for me to hop out of the car and capture this scene in the Grand Valley, a part of Colorado most people miss if they never venture west beyond Vail. Western Colorado in the fall, lovely.

Grand Valley
14 x 18", Oil on canvas
Rita Salazar Dickerson (c) 2014

Stage 1: The composition. After tinting the canvas with a wash of Transparent Earth Red and Ultramarine mixed with mineral spirits, I loosely painted in the lines of the composition before starting with the sky.

Stage 2: Painting the sky. I chose an earthy orange-rust for this under painting.

And then with a palette knife I began placing the shapes of the blue sky that appeared behind the clouds. With each stage of this painting I worked with the method of wet-on-wet paint. 

With my brush loaded with paint, I began to place the clouds. Once all of the colors were down, I wiped my brush and then started moving the paint around, blending and softening edges, then pulling the colors into each other. I left bits of the orange under painting showing.

Detail of the clouds.

Stage 3: Painting in the distant mountains.

Stage 4: Blocking in the middle ground of trees and bushes.

Stage 5: Adding texture, color and detail to the trees and bushes. I used a brush first and then the palette knife for this stage.

Stage 6: Painting the water.

After blocking in the water and then placing the second layers of color where I wanted them, I used a wide brush to drag the paint across the canvas to give it texture.

Stage 7: Blocking in the foreground.

Stage 8: Completing the painting. Once again, I used a brush to lay down the paint colors and then alternated with a brush and palette knife to get the effect I wanted for the grass.

Commissioned Seascape

Going Home
16 x 20", Acrylic on canvas
Rita Salazar Dickerson (c) 2014

Some sunsets take your breath away. I like to think of them as beautiful gifts signaling the end of a day.

The reference photo for this sunset painting, taken during a family vacation in Mexico, suddenly became more than just a beautiful picture.  A deeper significance came with the loss of a beloved family member the following week. This image began to take on new layers of meaning...comfort, loss, grief, journey, a passing from this life to the next. Gentle, tender emotions seeking solace in the middle of the night.

I was honored to accept this commission. To put brush strokes to an image that will hold special meaning in the hearts of loved ones.

Stage 1: Preparing my canvas and loosely painting the image. I had two photographs to work from. One emphasized the dramatic water, the second focused on the sail boat and sunset. I created this composition from both of them. No sooner had I placed the boat where I thought I wanted it, I decided to move it just a bit lower. From there, I began with the sky.

 Stage 2: Painting the sky. Working with acrylics makes me paint fast and think quickly about what I want to do. Blending the clouds with softened edges was important.

Stage 3: Painting the boat. As much as it seems like the boat is one solid color/silhouette, it is not. I added slight variations of oranges and browns to keep it from appearing flat. It was tempting to paint in every single little line and detail with the masts but instead I will let the viewer's mind fill in the rest.

Stage 4: Painting the water.Working quickly so that I could blend my strokes, I painted less detail  near the horizon and then added more color, light and drama toward the bottom of the canvas with the water closer to the viewer. My goal was to add just enough detail and information.

Stage 5: Completing the painting. To complete this painting I went over it all adding touches of light, variations of color and more paint where I thought it was needed. 

Colorado Landscapes Series: Cottonwood Gold

Last summer and fall I had Colorado Landscapes on my brain. Everywhere I looked I thought, "painting". On the 13th of last October my husband, Robert, my sister, Joan and I, were heading east on I-70 and had stopped at a gas station in Rifle. There were fall colors everywhere. The cottonwood trees were literally adorning this quaint little western Colorado town along the interstate. While they went into the store I grabbed my camera and made haste to capture these trees down by the river with my lens. The air was still but there was visual movement in their branches. Their colors added such drama; I was spellbound.

Stage 1: Using my photograph as a reference, I loosely painted in the lines of the trees freehand, focusing on the composition. From my photo there really wasn't much in the foreground and so I lengthened and exaggerated the grasses that I had in the photo a bit so that the painting would be more balanced.

Stage 2: Blocking in the green leaves with a thin layer of paint.

Adding in the golds and rusts.

Stage 3: After blocking in the trees I came back in with a second layer of thicker paint over the entire painting. I then alternated with a palette knife and brushes to get the effect I wanted.

Now it is time to let the painting rest and then make the final adjustments and changes in a week or so. Just looking at the photograph of the painting below, I already see things I want to change just a bit.

Cottonwood Gold
14 x 18", Oil on canvas
Rita Salazar Dickerson (c)2014

Landscape Painting: Part 4, "Mt. Daly"Completed

Finishing a painting always reminds me of the sensations I had after completing a final test while in college. Happy and extremely relieved. I could hardly stand the pressure. I tried to think back to my high school days and can't remember my feelings at all about the tests back then (I must have really hated them). Ironically, now as a professional artist, I love the challenges of a painting deadline. In fact, I welcome them. Which is probably why I like doing commissioned paintings. There is usually a deadline involved and the pressure gets my adrenaline going which in turn gives me the energy and inspiration I need to see the creative project to completion.

This landscape painting was one of those challenges which I thoroughly enjoyed. The deadline gave me the excuse to paint night and day and ignore all my other day to day responsibilities.( I will admit that I still have to put some miscellaneous Christmas stuff away. Its all hidden in my laundry room.) A couple of times I painted in my pajamas for most of the day...it was very comfortable and guilt free.  But in the end, the painting was completed in time and was just barely dry enough to put it in the frame I had ordered. Two days later it was ceremoniously presented to a very deserving recipient.

Stage 8: Painting the foreground. I started by blocking in the grassy area with an under painting of a neutral green, leaving hints in the areas where the trees and rocks would go.

And then with a darker green, I blocked in the trees, rocks and then the stream.

 Stage 9: Applying the second layer of paint.Working wet on wet paint, I came in with a putty knife to apply the thicker paint that would give depth, color and texture.

Here is a closer look at Stage 9. From there, with a variety of brushes, I worked the colors into the canvas.

Mt. Daly
24 x 30", Oil on canvas
Rita Salazar Dickerson (c)2014

Landscape Painting: Mt. Daly, Part 3

As I continued on with the stages of this painting, each brush stroke took me further away from my present circumstances and gently pulled me back into the memories of that quiet summer morning. I began to feel as though I was there again. The air was fresh and clean after the night rain. All was quiet. As I looked up, I noticed that layers of tall trees framed each side of Mt. Daly.

Stage 6: Painting the trees. I decided to use a darker value of green to block in the shapes of the trees and then come back in with lighter colors to give definition.

My goal was to keep these initial shapes simple.

I experimented with the shapes of the light clouds hovering beneath the mountain.

It was time to leave the clouds alone and see how they looked after I put more trees in.

Stage 7: Adding details to the trees. Along with the pine trees was the contrast of the aspens. They helped define the space between them and the forest beyond (as well as giving variation in color and texture). I took out the low clouds; they felt like a distraction. 

Landscape Painting: Mt. Daly, Part 2

 Stage 2: Painting the sky. I started the sky by blocking it in with a somewhat thin layer of light gray-blue. While the paint was still fresh and wet, I painted the white clouds into it, softening the edges as I went. I enjoyed the subtle hints of pinks and lavender.

There was a fluffy, light cloud cover in the sky that morning, somewhat unusual for a Colorado summer morning. More often than not, its a solid blue sky. The random pattern of the openings in the clouds intrigued me with little bits of blue peeking through.

Stage 3: Painting the trees into the sky. To get the effect I wanted, painting wet paint onto wet paint, I realized that I had to paint at least the tops of the trees that overlapped and framed the edges of the sky.

Stage 4: Blocking in Mt. Daly. As we came upon this wilderness scene, with Mt. Daly looming in the distance, I was impressed with the light and how it was enhancing the colors of this peak. As I blocked in the colors I couldn't help thinking of it as a patchwork quilt.

Stage 5: Painting Mt. Daly. I loved what the clouds and sunlight were doing as random patterns of shadow and light moved across the mountain's form. The biggest challenge was giving enough visual information to make it interesting and believable but at the same time keeping it simple enough so that it didn't look tight and too detailed.

Landscape Painting: Mt. Daly, Part 1

Every January I look forward to the new year with excitement and anticipation. What will 2014 hold? Some of it is planned in advance with goals that have been in place for several months. I enjoy the new challenges. For example, I am ready to begin in earnest my "Colorado Landscape" series with an exhibit scheduled in early May at G44 Gallery. I am also looking forward to some commissioned portraits. And then there are the surprises. Paintings in my future that right now I am totally unaware of. Creative surprises in the new year. What will they be?

The first oil commission of this year falls right in line with my new landscape series. It brings back special memories of the backpacking trip my husband Robert and I took last summer. The reference photo for this painting was taken on the first day. I was so excited and in awe of the beauty that surrounded me. Before we had even reached the trail head I was captivated by this view: Mt. Daly looming straight ahead, welcoming me to the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness in the White River National Forest.

Stage 1: Mt. Daly. Sketching in the composition freehand with a thin wash of Ultramarine Blue and Transparent Earth Red mixed with mineral spirits. This stage always seems like it can be loosely done but in reality I force myself to take great care and really think through the composition. This is a good time to do some problem solving while mentally creating a plan of action. My natural impulse it to rush through this stage telling myself that I will fix it later. While that is possible, it always takes more time and wastes energy.