Thursday, January 14, 2010

Landscape...


"Key Biscayne"
9 x 12 in
Oil on Canvas

This is a painting I recently did in Key Biscayne, FL.  I am in south Florida visiting family, and thought coming down here would be nice and warm to escape the harsh winter of Minneapolis.  Well, I got off the plane with the weather at 30 degrees, needless to say I was not happy.  I was born and raised in Miami and never experienced this type of cold here.  Finally today the weather warmed up to 70 degrees and was able to go out to the beach to do a landscape painting.  This is not a normal painting for me, this was heavily influenced by Norman Rockwell.  The other day I went and saw his exhibition in Ft.Lauderdale and it was so amazing.  To say that I was inspired is an understatement, the way he is able to play with broken colors and also with the blended areas is just pure genius.  If I can achieve 1/4 of what he did in painting I will be happy.  I really love how he handles the lighter areas with such thick paint and is not afraid to put it on the canvas.  I learn so much every time I see his work in person, there is nothing like it.  With this painting I just loosened up and went really thick in the lighter areas and played with the gesture of the stroke to give it movement.  I hope to do a couple more of these before I leave, hope you enjoy!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the brush work here! I've never saw any Rockwell's landscape! I'm just going to google it now!

un saludo!

billspaintingmn said...

I've been to Key Biscayne, It was beutiful.
Rockwell is always a plus in life!
This landscape is like a post card Jonathan, it's nice to see and a bit of a break from the cold.
Hope you have a good time, and get to paint some!

Orlando Sanchez said...

Nice landscape bro. When I first saw it first thing that came to mind was siesta key or lido beach. Then I read your post and realized you weren't in Minneapolis any more. ha The weather has been such a surprise the last two weeks but maybe its over and today in the morning it is 63 degrees but with the sun it feels like 73 degrees beautiful weather to go out and paint. enjoy.

Jonathan said...

Abey- Thank you for your nice comment, when I was talking about Norman Rockwell I was referring more to his illustrations for publications, not so much his landscapes, sorry for the confusion.

Bill-Thats awesome that you have been to Key Biscayne, it's a nice little break from the craziness that Miami at times brings. Thank you for your comments Bill.

Orlando-I can see this landscape being a siesta key or lido beach painting. I hear that it's starting to warm up this weekend which is really nice. Again my friend thank you for your nice words.

Dominic Philibert said...

Nice one man!

Judy P. said...

I like the abstract shapes you are playing with in this painting, and the diagonals you've got in the greens make me feel the breeze. But you're missing the Twin Cities warmup we have now- in the 20's but foggy and way grey!
I've never seen Rockwell in life, only the printed illustrations. I'm always surprised to see paintings in real life- always lumpier and much more textured than I envisioned. That's the problem with blog art too- I know they are way nicer in real life.
Kick some sand for us!

Gregory Becker said...

Nice job. Love the sky and beach

Jonathan said...

Dominic-Thank you

Judy-You are right the quality of pics are significantly different than seeing it in person. The lighting down here is different than in my studio, I have to try to make it work the best I can. I will definitely throw sand around ;) Thanks again for your nice comment.

Gregory-Thank you for the comment!

SEILER said...

Nice job . .. wish it were warmer here.