Study of a Horizon, Hamilton Ontario

Another blast from the past, this painting was done in the picturesque city of Hamilton Ontario. Most people from Ontario would not call Hamilton picturesque but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or in the eyes of the painter in the case. I liked this scene because of the composition... vertical posts with the diagonal slashing telephone wires... and also the depth offered by the distant treeline on the horizon.

I've shown a few 'pivotal paintings'... ones that influenced my style in some profound way, and this is another such painting. I discovered a combination of colours while doing this painting that has served me well in the years since. It was for the trees on the horizon. You see a purple-green colour that gives a tremendous sense of depth... suggesting atmosphere and reflected blue sky. Da vinci pioneered the concept of adding blue to the paint to create a sense of depth. Here I mixed ceurelian blue with some rose madder to create purple, and then dropped in a bit of viridian green and aurelian yellow. The key was starting with the thick purple, and just accenting it with some yellow-green. In the past I started with green and then tried to add blue, but it ended looking flat and lifeless. I have used this mixture in almost every landscape since.

5x7" cold press 1996?