Desert Morning

Desert Morning is the tentative title of my latest painting ("tentative" because I have another painting entitled One Desert Morning -- I need to make sure I don't confuse the two).

It's another miniature painting: 8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm, acrylic on panel. It features an area which is near -- but not in -- Joshua Tree National Park in southern California, and is visible from SR62.

I always loved these particular hills/mountains, especially when the light brings out the textures, nooks and crannies of the landscape. The yellow blooms of the desert senna shrubs add a little color to the scene.

Enjoy!!

The Colors of Autumn

The Colors of Autumn is my latest painting. It's obviously not a desert scene, the landscapes I always felt are my best paintings, but sometimes when it's fall, I want to do something that celebrates this wonderful season.

The size is 18" x 24" / 45.7cm x 61cm. I gave it a slightly blurry look to give the image a dreamy appearance. The inspiration came from an image I saw on deviantArt.com, and the composition follows a painting I made many years ago with elk instead of a deer.

Enjoy!!

The Colors of Autumn

Detail

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Thoughts on A.I.

Thoughts on A.I. No, those are not the initials of some artist (like Aliwishes Ishkabibbles). A.I. stands for Artificial Intelligence which, in this case, refers to artwork that is an assemblage of images (usually other artists'/photographers') to create an entirely new picture.

The downside is the fact that a person essentially steals images to create their own. The good side, however, can be some stunningly beautiful, imaginative landscapes or figurative pix that seem nicer than reality.

Of course. it takes no skill to make these images other than the knowledge of using the software...knowing what words to input that will produce a satisfying picture.

But I do have to wonder how this technology will affect the entire art world. Art can be made more quickly and cheaply this way. Perhaps the buying public will be able to acquire prints much more inexpensively and even have changes made in the scenes to personalize them to the buyers' preferences.

This would also bypass the notion in the art biz that art should be somewhat expensive so collectors will think the works are somehow more important and therefore -- more collectible. Problem is, this approach excludes entire classes of people who might like to have original art but can't afford them. My paintings aren't really all that pricy; yet, many peeps can't afford me. (I couldn't afford me, either).

I can see where A.I. could make wall hangings more available to the masses -- maybe the art world needs that. I don't expect to get in on this trend -- I can't afford the hardware OR software, and I don't think I could get good enough at creating A.I. works in whatever time I have left in this life. And -- there are already enough A.I. artists out there where the competition would be overwhelming.

So I'll keep painting, mostly for myself, and I may well be inspired by some A.I. images to make paintings. (My previous painting, A Rainbow in Stone (Bunny Tales: A Rainbow in Stone (markjunge.blogspot.com)) was inspired by an A.I. pic!! (But I didn't copy it -- I promise!!)

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com 

A Rainbow in Stone

 A desert landscape, entirely from my imagination! Well, OK, a desert landscape with elements from various locales assembled together in one scene.

A Rainbow in Stone                      8" x 10" / 20cm x 25"

The background is from Sedona, AZ. The arch is actually a reversed image of Rainbow Bridge, UT (that's where the rainbow in the title comes from; besides, both the arch and rainbows are arches), the plant life is from southern AZ, and the golden barrel cactus are native to northern and eastern Mexico in the state of Chihuahua.

I wanted to do a painting that combined some of my favorite desert scenery, but besides that -- this is somewhat of a rendering of scenery I want to make on my HO scale model railroad.

To me, model railroad landscaping is analogous to a sculpture version of what I paint. It's a painting in 3D. The only things missing are the cloudy skies and distant mountains -- and I may work on that problem, too.

I hope I can succeed in pulling off a scene like this in HO scale!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

In the Mojave (Desert)

All new: "In the Mojave" is a scene in Joshua Tree National Park, CA. This involved one of the few times in my life (years ago) when I scrambled up a boulder to get more of a bird's-eye view.

8" x 10"/20cm x 25cm, acrylic on panel. No AI. Enjoy!!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

In the Mojave                                                   8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm

Sonoran Desert Moon

Sonoran Desert Moon is the latest in my never-ending series of desert paintings!

The size is 18" x 24" / 45.7cm x 61cm, a size that was always my favorite size, but I don't tend to work that "big" anymore.

The scene is in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, AZ, looking toward the Sonoita Mountains of Mexico. (I've seen the mountain range spelled "Sonoyta" -- I don't know which is the favored spelling). I sort of thinned out the vegetation somewhat, and I've never had the pleasure of seeing the view from a bird's-eye perspective.

In any case, I followed a 19th century Hudson River School tradition by painting the landscape this way. I added cloud shadows and a quarter moon that is partially obscured by clouds. (I actually painted in more clouds than I had intended to, but I decided to leave them. Maybe I'll do another piece similar to this, but with fewer clouds).

Enjoy!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

The Nurse Tree

A nurse tree is one that provides shelter and a certain level of protection for other young plants; in this case, a saguaro cactus. Here, a palo verde tree in bloom offers shade to the cactus, enabling it to grow to a large size without getting burned in the scorching desert sun. (The tree is also giving shade to a desert cottontail bunny-rabbit!)

The Nurse Tree    8" x 10"/20cm x 25cm

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com