Elysium - Check out our newest impressionist art

Welcome to the land of eternal summers

It's been quite a long time since we've posted any new original artwork!  Between a hectic art show season and unexpected and spectacular holiday season (the best one yet - thank you all!) I haven't actually had a chance to paint since Halloween.

The start of a new year

So I decided to jump into 2019 with something loose and fun - a painting full of light and atmosphere, and not too tied up in the details.

This painting allowed me to deep-dive into the feelings of a relaxed, late summer / early fall morning with hazy sunshine filtering through distant trees and a crisp blue sky reflecting off the lake. 

As with most of my palette knife artwork, I started with a real loose and atmospheric base coat, just to get a real rough idea of the mood I was looking to create, and create simple spatial relationships.

Exactly what I needed for getting back into the swing of things!

Having not painted in months, I needed something that was rich in feeling, and easy on composition, so my brain could really focus on the emotions of the piece.

The most important thing to me was that glowing horizon and getting the trees to almost float like liquid gold in the haze.

Less Math, More Art

Because of my background in design, I have a tendency to fall into the trap of over-designing art - of being too focused on composition and details and not letting the impression of the scene do the majority of the work.

At some point I had to stop being fussy about the placement of the trees and just go with my gut.  I had basic lines drawn in and some rough ideas - I had to trust myself and just do it.  And as with all things, your gut is usually right.

The finishing touches

The piece ended up coming together really fast.  It felt like out of nowhere there was suddenly tree trunks and fall leaves on branches.  And then it was just done.

This is one of those few pieces that when I finished it, I never went back and added anything to it.  Just hung it on the studio wall to dry.

"Elysium, vol.1" is now available for purchase.  Please note that it is still drying and will not be available to ship until after March 1st, 2019.