Hugh's painting IMG_9797

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Comment by Lorna Allan on October 3, 2010 at 16:29

My pleasure Ro. Off now to prepare diner for my daughter...she is coming for the evening meal with me. And yes, Gods world is beautiful. You are funny Ro, to say that the photo must have copied my painting. The owner of this still loves it very much. Best to you...Lorna

Comment by Roena King on October 3, 2010 at 16:16

That photo was amazing. It was so good it must have copied your painting! he he God's world is so beautiful! Thanks for sharing that link with me and all the information. Ro

Comment by Lorna Allan on October 3, 2010 at 15:13

Hi Ro, you are making my day so much nicer. Thank you.
I did deliberately paint ice flows under the water as well as on the surface. It gave depth to the water. I didnt deliberately paint a school of fish...it was to be more ice flows but like the look of what I did so left it as it was...leaves a question... (O: You found it! The painting is 300 x 750 so not so big really... that's around 12 x 30 inches.
The land below the water bottom right is the near ridge of the mountain, the rock ring around the top edge.
http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com/volcano-caldera-with-ice-sheets-m...
this will give you a better idea of the larger picture of the mountain. Scroll down a little to see some of Hugh's images of this mountain taken at the same time as the one he gave me to work from. This mountain imploded in on itself in 1912 when a nearby mountain erupted. this was when scientists discovered that mountains have tunnels interconnecting them. When one errupts it will suck out from the tunnels and another further away may implode. A nearby valley where I went walking was named The Valley of The Ten Thousand Smokes due to fumaroles there for many years after the explosion. It is still a totally fascinating place.
Oh yes!! I heard that crack of the ice too!! (O: I should post the one that is now on board the Discovery a small ship that operates out of Whittier Alaska. You would like that one if you like this one... will put it up...
Glad you have had so much enjoyment Ro. I am taking a break for a short while to let some paint dry and have a cofffee than back to it.

Comment by Roena King on October 3, 2010 at 12:10

Lorna, the more I look the more amaized I am. Not only can I see ice below the floating ice, but .....did you paint a school of fish? I did notice, now the reflection of the cliff and on the water beside the cliff. I just love the land below the water near bottom right. Geeeezzzzzz the more I look the more I see. Did you hear that? Was that another chunk of ice that broke away? he he How big is the painting? I have totally enjoyed the past 15 minutes looking at this wonderful work or art! Ro

Comment by Lorna Allan on October 3, 2010 at 11:07

Hi Ro, I wanted to do a painting for this friend who had done so much for me and he was blown away by that, which to me of course was a great compliment. I wanted him to look through my photos as I wanted it to be a place that meant something to both of us, that we each had an affinity with. He was so busy and I had thousands of photos. We had both traveled in this area, I had walked up the valley a way with him and had flown over it but didnt have a good photo. He asked if I could work from his photo which he took from his own plane...guess someone has to do it. (O:
The photo was all a very mid scale blue. I tried for some weeks..yes weeks...to get it totally the same and was just frustrated till I woke in the middle of the night and realised if he wanted it that way he would have just framed his photo. I tackled it then remembering my own personal experience of my journey there, the light especially and the colors. I put some life into the sky though just gently so to give the whole work distance, difficult to portray in an aerial painting. I wanted the deep darkness in the background distant mountains but had to try to avoid it coming to the fore. The mountain cone is actually a different mountain as where the water and ice is is the crater lake. I played around with the snow and found that to reflect the warmer, but making them softer, tones of the rock of the mountains helped to keep a little warmth in the work. Most snow I see painted has blue and mauve tones which works fine however there was little chance otherwise to avoid making this a bitterly cold looking work. Just that touch of warmth in the snow helped. Seeing it in person it kind of glows especially in the snow of the front rim nearest the viewer. I found with the water that I had to put some light in around the far edge of the cliff coming down from the rear rim above the iceflows. This helped to sit the water down flatter too. Hope this helps Ro. Feel free to ask anytime or any more.

Comment by Lorna Allan on October 3, 2010 at 10:53

Thank you Ro, appreciate your interest and your kind comments.
I had never painted anything like this before and it was the angles, the shadows, the transparency that counted. It was a big learning curve. What works in a photo doesnt always work in a painting...but I love a challenge. (O:

Comment by Roena King on October 3, 2010 at 10:52

Lorna, what other thoughts did you have to think through - those challenges - to do this painting. I have never attempted an aerial view so I would be interested in knowing some of the thoughts you had. Thanks, Ro

Comment by Roena King on October 3, 2010 at 10:43

Lorna, very, very beautiful! I just gota ask....was it the "angles" of the ice - direction they pointed - that made the ice flow lay down and not stand up? This one deserves a 5*****. Excellent. Ro

Comment by Lorna Allan on October 2, 2010 at 23:15

The Culdera Mt Katamai.
This was for a friend in Alaska. It is an aerial painting which because of this presented interesting challenges...note...not problems (O: It means that there is no real foreground, middle ground and background in the same way as any normal landscape. It was also very much a midtone work and I usually use a full range, however I really enjoyed it once I got settled in to it. One interesting thing was how to paint an iceflow from an aerial view and make it look flat, not standing up.