I Can See For Miles

As a studio artist, we often have a stash of thousands of references that we keep for future paintings. I've had this image in mind for several years but never got to it. Recently, as I was going through my references, she turned up once again and, this time, I decided it was her turn. I'm glad that I waited so long because my approach is so different from what it was several years ago. It's likely that I would have painted her in the stylized realism I'm know for. This time was different. I wanted to approach her with the pop art style I've been creating in my recent pieces, which is a style from the era of the 70s, when I was studying graphic design and illustration.

I separated the image into 4 values of her darker side and used a simple palette to illustrate those values. On the lightest value, which is the transition as her face goes into the light, I I chose a light red hue to provide a bit of exuberance in her face. The background blues and golds were created with a base of acrylics and metallics prior to the application of her face. I designed this as a way to give her an abstracted 'sky' to be in. It helped create a feeling that she's floating in the sky, as if she can see forever!

"I Can See for Miles", 16" x 16" oil on an acrylic and metallics base, all on a cradled Baltic Birch panel framed in a custom black floater.

SOLD through the 89ers Art Show & Sale for the Bozeman Art Museum's annual fundraiser, held on October 18th, 2024, at the Riverside Country Club, Bozeman MT.

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