Experiments with Landscape

The Artist group I have been involved with for the past few years has embarked on a new endeavor for this year involving a set of art cards containing "instructions" in 3 distinct categories.  We blind pick a card from each category deck and must use at least two of the cards to produce a piece.   The basics of my 3 cards were:

• Do a painting using only Cadmium Orange and a tube black
• Do a Blind Contour drawing of a photograph you like or a live subject (person, place or thing). Don't look down at the paper while you are drawing.  If you come up with something abstract. GOOD
• Use drafting tape as a design tool.  Start with a wet-into-wet underpainting (this layer will be your lightest light).  After this dries, apply random shapes to your paper using drafting tape.  Draw your subject and paint it. If you wish, add more tape as you go, or move the tape around to add layers.  

I couldn't see myself using only orange and black so chose to incorporate the other two cards and see where it went.  I ended up doing two works for this project.  Million Dollar Highway is from a drawing of the road from Durango to Ouray in Colorado from this past fall just as the leaves were beginning to change color.   Bonavista Visions is from photos and drawings I have of trips to the Cape Bonavista Lighthouse in Newfoundland.  

Million Dollar Highway
18 x 24 Mixed Media on Fabriano Watercolor Paper

Bonavista Visions
24 x 18 Mixed Media on Fabriano Watercolor Paper