Painting the Long View

"Secret Canyon I" 5x7, oil - contact Michael

"Secret Canyon II" 5x7, oil - contact Michael

"Sugar Loaf" 5x7, oil - contact Michael

As you remember, I did a few diptychs recently in an effort to catch some of the grandness of the Sedona panorama. But in all that beauty, sometimes one particular distant mountain would catch my eye. So in addition to the diptychs, I did a few paintings of these long views.

I forget which painter it was, and a quick Google search didn't bring up the name, but I remember reading about one who painted views through a spyglass. The spyglass gives you a monocular view rather than the binocular view we're so used to, which helps to flatten the image and reduce the sense of distance between the nearest and most distant objects. (I may be thinking of Cezanne or one of the other post-Impressionist image-flatteners.) Also, the view tends to be more high-key with almost no dark accents but lots of greyed colors. Shapes are simplified and often modelled only by mid-tone and highlight.

The three paintings above are my long views. As a comparison, I also offer the image below of a landmark that was much closer to us. You'll note the Chimney is modelled with three values (highlight, mid-value, dark) and there is some good dark in the cast shadow.

"Chimney" 5x7, oil - contact Michael