Finished Painting, "Desert Sage"

Nathan Abels, "Desert Sage", Acrylic on Linen, 24x36"

Scroll down to see the process of how this developed.

Painting of the Day: Degas

Edgar Degas, Landscape, Monotype in oil colors, heightened with pastel, 1892 via the Metropolitan Museum

Skyfall Art

The new James Bond film, Skyfall was probably the best Bond film I've seen in a long time. It was fun, self-conscious about it's own Bond movie conventions (with lines like, "somebody usually dies"), and probably more more beautifully filmed than any Bond film in recent memory. The dramatic lighting of the final showdown reminded me of some of the incredible shots in Apocalypse Now. For that matter - they also reminded me of Turner's paintings. This painting "The Fighting Temeraire" by J.M.W. Turner makes an appearance in the Skyfall scene pictured above:

There's also an incredible Friedrich-esque Scottish landscape in the film:

Caspar David Friedrich, "Evening Landscape with Two Men", 1830

My own photo of the Scottish highlands from August, 2012:

New Work: "Procession"

"Procession", Acrylic and Oil on Canvas, 18x32"

Art by Rebecca Wallace

Beautiful paintings and drawings by California-based artist Rebecca Wallace;

Rebecca Wallace, Sun glare, Oil on Panel 12 x 16", 2009

Rebecca Wallace, The space that was created to fill the gap that was left when it disappeared. Oil on Panel 18 x 20", 2010

Rebecca Wallace, Attempt # 1, Oil on canvas 21x28", 2009

Rebecca Wallace, Bon voyage. 22 x 30" charcoal on paper. 2010

Rebecca Wallace, Vol 30. No. 9., Graphite and watercolor on paper, 8 x 8", 2010

Rebecca Wallace, At this time you must always have games. Graphite and color pencil on paper, 23 x 29", 2010

Photo of the Day

Today's another most-of-the-day painting binge.

This photo is from the Peak to Peak byway on the way to Estes Park - a very European looking church high on a hill. The photo was edited with the easy to use free online photo editing tool : Rollip. You don't need an iphone to make your digital photos look analog.

Two new small works on paper

I painted both of these yesterday:

(Untitled), Acrylic on Paper, 5x7"

(Untitled), Acrylic on Paper, 5x7"

Jetty

Peter Doig
Jetty 1994
Oil on canvas

Probably one of my all-time favorite contemporary paintings.

Millet's "Starry Night"

Jean-François Millet, Nuit Étoilée (Starry Night), c. 1851. Oil on canvas, 65.4 x 81.3 cm. Yale University Art Gallery - via Art History tumblr

Three "Weatherscapes" by Rebeca Mendez

Rebeca Mendez, Weatherscape #03, 2008. Archival Inkjet Print on Epson Ultra Smooth Fine Art Paper. 30×40 inches. ed. 7
Weatherscape #01, 2008. Archival Inkjet Print on Epson Ultra Smooth Fine Art Paper. 30×40 inches. ed. 7
Weatherscape #14, 2008. Archival Inkjet Print on Epson Ultra Smooth Fine Art Paper. 30×40 inches. ed. 7

Albert Pinkham Ryder

Albert Pinkham Ryder, The Sheepfold, Oil on Canvas, 1870

"If Bierstadt's and Moran's vistas trupeting national opportunity represent one extreme- landscape as expansive, public declaration- Ryder's small nature notes seem to have imploded, leaving a small, silent, concentrated core."

~From Albert Pinkham Ryder by Elizabeth Broun

Back from Yellowstone

I've been in Wyoming for the last week exploring the Yellowstone area for my third time. We traveled over 1600 miles and took over 800 photos (including film - coming soon). We got some fantastic photos - some taken by me and some by Lorna - see the set below:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

a few of my personal favorites:

Nikolai Nikanorovich Dubovskoy, Silence, 1890 (via)

as much mystery

Interesting older article on Dutch landscape paintings by the Guardian's Jonathan Jones. He writes,

"...anyone who gazes at Ruysdael's river under a cool sky [pictured above] will soon notice what is strange about it. The soft pale green trees that fringe the river are reflected in its calm glassy surface so completely and clearly that the painting depicts two worlds, not one: the mirror-world in the water conjoins with its counter-image above, the roots of the trees literally pointing in two directions. What at first seemed a simple scene turns out to hint at a portal to another dimension, a grotesque intertwining of worlds. There is as much suggestion, as much mystery in this painting as in any surrealist dreamscape."

I agree - and on a more personal note I find the mysterious qualities of Dutch landscapes to be much more intriguing than most surrealist works. Probably no suprise.

amazing photo

Credit: John McColgan, BLM, Alaska Fire Service

John McColgan a fire behavior analyst from Fairbanks, Alaska took the attached photo while working in the Bitterroot National Forest of Montana on August 6, 2000. whoa.

Karin Apollonia Müller

Karin Apollonia Müller, "morning run"
"testing the ground"

"flower and tie"

"clean up"

New Aerial Photos

overlooking South Park valley

I love the abstract quality of this image.

I was in the plane for over six hours today and it was a beautiful day. I love the Rocky Mountains.

Julien Berthier

Julien Berthier, Résidence secondaire, 2008, Épreuve chromogène, 40 x 50 cm

On a grander scale

photo taken in Rocky Mountain National Park this last weekend.

Henry David Thoreau -February 2, 1852:

Sir Francis Head says that in America “the moon looks larger” than in Europe. Here, then, more moonshine is to be expected. Perhaps the sun looks larger also. Such are the advantages of the New World. The same writer says, “the heavens of America appear infinitely higher,” “the stars are brighter.” These, too, are encouraging facts, symbolical of the height to which the philosophy and poetry and religion of her inhabitants may one day soar. At length, perchance, the immaterial heaven will appear as much higher to the American mind, and the intimations that star it will appear as much brighter. For I believe that climate does thus react on man, and that there is something in the mountain air that feeds the spirit and inspires. We shall be more imaginative; we shall be clearer, as our sky, bluer, fresher; broader and more comprehensive in our understanding, like our plains; our intellect on a grander scale, like our thunder and lightning, our rivers and our lakes, and mountains and forests. Are not these advantages? Will not man grow to greater perfection intellectually as well as physically under these influences? Or is it unimportant how many foggy days there are in his life?

Past and Present: J.E.H. MacDonald and Peter Doig

J.E.H. MacDonald, In the Pine Shadows, Moonlight, 1912, oil on canvas 81.9 x 70.9 cm

J.E.H. MacDonald, Moonlight Harvest, 1913, oil on canvas 41 x 51 cm

Contemporary artist Peter Doig shares a similar sensibility:

Peter Doig

Peter Doig