This was the grandpa of the previous post, Russell Chatham. You can see the similarity in their work with simple designs of dark foreground shapes and greyed out skies in the background giving the viewer a great contrast of dark against light.
If you can nail down design you can do anything, some of the pieces I posted here are only 6 by 8 inches, they have such use of space I thought them to be 30 by 50 inches like Chatham’s pieces.
The artist was born in 1872 and did most of his paintings of the California landscape in a plein aire style with muted color. He was not of fan of the increasing use of machinery in the country, and liked to make work that was quiet and moody.
Worked in a variety of mediums including etching, murals, painting, and sculpting.
The artist died in 1945 but his grandson still uses his paintbox and easel! A great artist who teaches us all simplicity of design and controlling the colors is very important when achieve more than a simple likeness of a landscape.
Try a landscape with all the summer colors but try to control like the 2 previous posts. Start with a very light grey and then add the color later once you have finished your composition.
Below is a clip from a California museum showing installation of his final mural.
Happy painting!
D
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