Warning Sunrise Mists Arising

Took the plunge, and got out the other large canvas that has been staring at me for over a year saying, "So what are you going to paint on me ? Huh !"


Again I am deviating from the true colours of my original painting....but since I began painting, (the original) just after sunrise, and didn't finish till 11:30 am, the colours and shadows changed all the time. As the sun moved up I gradually was able to distinguish all the ridges of the inner caldera ring that earlier were lost in a darker haze.
Speaking of haze.....I now have a good 'hazy' photo of the stage before this pic above, that I took as a photo doco of the painting progress, forgetting the camera was still set on Macro (found an amazing Funky Forest of Fungi just after sunrise this morning!!)



I normally don't start 'blocking in the horizon until I've sorted out the sky, but as I was cleaning up my pallette container, I mixed up all the shades of green,brown, and black on a bed of dried blues, and loved the dusky shade of Turquoise that appeared....tipped off the excess water, and proceeded to use it to block in the mountain with it instead of just going with a more neutral greyish, which will be added in later I think.

This photo while a write off for my records, IS a reminder to try and keep the painting hazy with the morning misty brightness....Hmmmmm can I actually make this happen....


Then I had great fun painting in a glowing golden dawning sky, such as has awoken me on many of the mornings that I have camped at this glorious spot in our van over the years.
Having spent so many years painting what I saw, as it was, trying to recapture every detail in the landscape before me, it is quite invigorating/rerfeshing to 'allow' myself total freedom, in how I paint these memories onto canvas.



I'm liking the feeling of this painting so far, as I walk back into the studio, and see the glowing golden sky, it gives me a warm glowing feeling.....quite different from the original in small frame in middle, and the Brummies Lookout Panorama on the right.
Hmmm .....I wonder what that could look like painted in a free form colour sense, like the Blackbutt Lookout ones. ....Food for thought....and another canvas......Hope the shop gets another of same dimensions in soon, and I'll try that too.

Still have two canvasses that I stretched myself, still waiting to be begun, just can't quite decide which aspect of Warning it will be.
I seem to be do a series on the mountain.....I guess it has been a dream of mine for so long, and I am always taking pix of it these days with the digital as we drive around it.
They can't be allowed to build a dam in Byrrill Creek !!! It is too valuable a valley, both for it's wildlife (Koala Crossing), and residents homes and lives, not to mention the Tourism from scenic drives and walks !!!

What do you think? Any comments welcome.......

A work in Progress continues, with a dramatic change.........

The chocolate box image,......going going gone.......


After the celebrations are done with again.....I can get back to painting work.....I had to stop, just when I was on a roll and head out to Mt Warning Hoilday Park where my sister is staying as she wanted to host a birthday party,(mother) cum christmas with our brother, nephew, outlaw nephew, and semi-ex SIL, on the 22nd......that exhausted me!!

Next day had to go shopping for forgotten items from previous shop, and forgot just as much, as my brain just didn't seem to be functioning, (low iron,anaemia!?). Got back, and felt totally stuffed.

But I did receive a second invitation to join 50 local women artists of the Tweed Region, in a specky coffe table book showcase !! Thanks Lesley !!

On the 24th, I got caught up with some minimalist preparations for the 25th, made a new christmas cake....for change and simplicity...a Sienese Italian spicy Panforte, which turned out very well despite my alterations/additions to the recipe,(I don't seem to be able to stick to a recipe, that often, lol)
And found out, I'd had a sale online while I'd be PC Free ! for two days. Yay !

And spent time helping try and make a CD of old family slides into a modern screensaver slideshow to be playable on the larger TV, but the discs refused to play !!! Aaaaaaaah waste of several hours !

Yesterday was another exhausting day.....with just my older sister, who seems to have become perpetually 10 years old, and who did not stop talking from the moment she arrived til the moment she left 10 hours later. Luckily she went and had a short walk around the property between courses. ......!! My mother and I were pleased to have the short break !
Boxing Day and it is another big rain day, with much cooler weather, and only an occasional humid patch.......So after relaxing, with a book in bed after brekky in bed, I spied my Panorama painting in the studio/living room, and decided it was 'Too Chocolate Box' like, and maybe I should paint it with some of the very dramatic thundery Black/Blue clouds we regularly get here.

But first, I read the contract details for the art book promo, and (will attempt to get everything needed for that, done ASAP, Lesley), and I did some digital photo processing work, which can take me longer than normal, as I still wrangle with the new OS that I've recently switched over to.

So here is a radical change from the earlier blue sky.........After I'd put down some dark gray, then some light gray and white......I fingerpainted the blending of the two.......Haven't done that since I first played round with oil paint as a youth.



Cleaned the brush off a bit by spreading some of the grays onto lower section of painting.
As I have been sitting perusing my paintings of late.....I really want to thank one of the best art teachers, I ever worked for, for all the extremely valuable tricks and painting tips I learnt from him as I posed as a Life-Model, for many of his drawing and painting classes, at MSC for 9 years. William Harding, Bill was/is one of the best teachers I had the pleasure of working with, and as a model I got to see a large number in Melbourne in the 80'sand 90's. Thankyou Bill, I applied all your painting tips for nudes and drapery to my landscapes whilst out on the road in the later years.
Life Modeling was great ! A fantastic way to get paid to have free art lessons !!

There is still a long way to go until this one is finished......but that's OK, ......I did start working on this project way back in late '95, on a short stay in the caldera between trips to Tassie.


Originally drawn on 4 sheets of Canson Paper (brought in paris in '79), I walked up to Brummies Lookout, a short but steep climb on the Inner Core Ring of mountains surrounding the Central Core Mt Warning, and sat right on the ledge, across from the Cliffs above Cedar Creek.

An awesome spot to spend an afternoon, watching Goshawks fly from side to side beneath my swinging feet, and trying to manage two sheets of paper when linking the next section......not easy.

But to paint 'plein air' you can only do so when the weather is dry , (and stillish) ! The wonders of digital photography have helped me, by being able to record images to check my first draft, ( I had to compress quite a bit as I had 'stretched some ares quite grossly, in hindsight.) I re-climbed to the lookout twice more, once in 2000, noticing the trees had grown on the skyline and more green moss and creepers adorned some rockfaces; and again last year to escort a new local, this time with a camera, digital no less !!

And as I have been constantly taking stunning photos of the dramatic storms we experience here in the Mt Warning Caldera, I decided this one needs to 'Go Dramatic'........

I wonder what the next instalment will produce.....laptop battery is now low, so I'll post this and head back into studio and hence out of wireless broadband range.

To see the earlier stages of this painting click Here and Here

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Aaaaaah I feel I have crawled out of the wilderness.....I have begun to paint again ! It has been sooooo long since I have had the energy and motivation to be creative.....which is quite unusual for me.

Don't know how long I'll be able to keep it going.....but while I have my studio all to myself, I feel like I can........as I can choose to do what I want, when and IF I want !

Managed to paint one whole new painting that I will give to my mother today for her Summer Solstice Birthday....(see above) This is the original painting I did back in '95, from Blackbutt Lookout, on the Border Rangesfrom Sunrise til 11:30 am.
And the two different versions together



Happy Solstice to you all, shortest night last night........(down Unda)

Recommenced painting my Landscape Panorama canvas.......



Have 4 wearable art Sunset Silhouettes, nearly ready for heat setting.......