Saturday, March 26, 2022

Arctic Fire

 The first spring flowers are just starting to bloom but it is still dipping below freezing at night here. While waiting for the full onset on Spring, I thought I would share my very wintry painting from earlier this year.

The aurora borealis has different looks with the types listed as dunes, arcs, bands, pillars, diffuse, and corona. I don't know which type my favorite falls in to but I call it curtains. The undulating spectacle reminds me of the heavy curtains on a stage moving gently as the players behind take their places before the show starts.When I can create a painting which also includes a predator with which I have spent a lot of time with in the wild, I have a recipe for a dramatic painting.

Starting with the sky, I block in the colors painting some very bright yellow as a focus point for the northern lights.


In keeping with the night scene, the ice has a dull teal hue with pockets of purer color in the foreground.


The water has some muted shadows and I painted it so it would feel fairly smooth with no hint of a breeze.


I have been fortunate to have spent time in remote Manitoba observing polar bears. There are few things more heart pounding that to be in the tundra and finding a polar bear has been watching you and you didn't know he was there.

 

 
Arctic Fire    16" X 24"   Original oil

The above image of the scanned painting looks quite a bit different than the in-progress photos. Once the piece was dry, I glazed many sections with mostly Michael Harding Phthalocyanine Blue Lake.