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

Desert Adobe

Desert Adobe is a painting where my imagination took over. The distant mountains are based loosely on the Coxcomb Mountains of Joshua Tree National Park, CA. But the rest of it, including the house, are figments!

I wanted to create a sense of aloneness. Would someone living here ever feel lonely? Is the house even occupied, or is it abandoned? Who knows?? I'll leave that up to the viewer!

Desert Adobe                           8" x 10"/20cm x 25cm

Alone in the desert! Enjoy!!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Finished the Joshua Tree Scene!

I mentioned last time I was working on a scene from Joshua Tree National Park, and I posted the photo I was using as a reference. Well, it's finished!! I even included a desert cottontail bunny-rabbit, which I haven't done in a while since it's a little hard to paint them when the artwork is small!

One Desert Morning                                               18" x 24" / 45.7cm x 61cm

Detail -- the Bunny-Rabbit!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

More paintings from the Eclipse Trip

 I've mentioned before: in April we took a trip to San Antonio, TX to see the total solar eclipse. Well, it was cloudy and all we really saw was the darkness that fell during totality.

But: I did manage to collect material coming and going that would turn into paintings! One of these is Texas! that shows the beautiful Hill Country of that state. Another piece, Desert View, shows the Arizona desert when your back is to Picacho Peak near Tucson. (I didn't include the I-10 freeway or the buildings that are actually out there!)

Click on the images to enlarge them.

Texas!     11" x 14"/ 27.9cm x 35.6cm

Desert View      8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm

I STILL want to do a painting of the eclipse itself, but I think I'll take a break from making paintings of this trip and work on some other ideas that have been kicking around in my head for a long time.

Stay tuned!!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Desert Spring

 Wow -- today's April Fool's Day. Well, as far as I'M concerned, it's April but I ain't no fool!!

I just finished a painting, Desert Spring, which seemed especially appropriate for this time of year. It depicts a scene in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona. My focus was on the distant mountain (don't know if it has a name or not). After I varnish it, I'll probably offer it for sale on my website -- links are below under my signature).

On another note, I'm hoping to be able to travel to San Antonio, TX in time to see the total solar eclipse. However, at this writing, it seems possible that much of Texas will be overcast and maybe even raining. This would obviously obscure the view of the sun which would render the trip a bust. We'll see in the next couple of days what the weather forecast says, but we may end up canceling the trip. 😢

Anyway, here's the painting. Enjoy!

Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Commission -- Joshua Tree Sunset

Just finished my second painting for the year and my first commission in a long time!

(The sun isn't as solid white as it appears in the picture -- my paintings can be hard to photograph!)

Anyway, the painting is 22" x 28" / 55.9cm x 71.1cm -- larger than I've been doing in a long time! Joshua Tree Sunset is a scene in the National Park of that name, one of my favorite places on the planet.

Enjoy!!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

A Joshua Tree Painting

FINALLY!!! I finished my first painting for 2024!!

This is a view I saw many years ago from the Boy Scout Trailhead in Joshua Tree National Park, California. I haven't decided on a title yet, but I'll come up with something. When I do, I'll offer it on my website. The size is 8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm.

Enjoy! 

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Crater Range

Well, another year has come and gone...and so quickly! How is that happening?

I managed to finish only one painting in December. It seems like it took me forever -- but not because it was especially hard, but I had trouble making decisions about it; plus, there were lots of interruptions AND I wasn't feeling very motivated.

But here it is: Crater Range, an area between Gila Bend and Ajo, Arizona. It's a volcanic-looking area that features an Air Force bombing range on the other side of those mountains! (I never heard any bombs going off the times I visited there -- thankfully).

Crater Range         8" x 10"

The size is 8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm. Enjoy!

Mark Junge
www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Autumn Splendor

It's no secret that my favorite season of the year is autumn, when trees seem to be huge flowers that bloom in radiant colors.

Autumn Splendor is the latest painting that shows my idea of what fall looks like (which it doesn't in the desert where I live!). Complete with some mallards, my favorite species of duckies.

The location is imaginary -- but it's a place I'd love to see. Enjoy!!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Hawaiian Skies - White-Tailed Tropicbird

White-Tailed Tropicbird is (sort of) my latest painting. I actually finished it earlier this year, but I couldn't decide if I was keeping the distant hills and palms or replace it with blue sky. I ended up leaving it as it was. Size is 8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm.

I was surprised to learn that seagulls tend not to occur in the Hawaiian Islands. Apparently, they don't care much for the food they find there. Thus, they only stop by temporarily if they're migrating.

But the tropicbirds fill that ecological niche!

There is also a red-tailed species. I'll have to paint one of those birdies sometime, too.

Enjoy!!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Autumn Glory

Autumn Glory is my newest painting. This is one of the peaks in the Elk Range in Colorado -- near Aspen, and the same mountain range that includes the fabled Maroon Bells. I think this mountain is Pyramid Peak, although I'm not sure about that. The size is 11" x 14" / 28cm x 36cm. I may do a reshoot of the painting, since this one didn't come out that great.

I had considered adding some wildlife to the scene -- some mallard ducks or maybe some deer (I DID see a buck and doe together when I was there), but then I decided -- naaahhh. I didn't feel like it!

Enjoy!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

Extinction

 Extinction is a new painting in a surrealistic style, a look I rather enjoy.

The size is 8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm and shows a post-apocalyptic scene, We don't know if the female is the last living human on earth, or if she's the only person out in the open. A destroyed city and clock loom in the distance, and the ground is giving off a yellowish polluting gas. Dead trees and dry, cracked earth complete the setting.

Sometimes the current events and what they mean to the future of our planet totally depress me, and that's the way I felt when I began this painting. There are "leaders" who seem hellbent on destroying the planet just so they can feed their hyperinflated egos. I know someday Jesus Christ will come, but how much is it going to hurt until He does?

May He help us all.

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or www.SouthwestSpaces.com

More (What Else?) Desert Landscape Paintings

Two more desert landscape paintings -- one small, one mini! Both are of Joshua Tree National Park.

JT12                                              5" x 7" / 12.7cm x 17.8cm

Dawn II                                      8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm

Aries

 As we all know, Aries is a zodiac sign which references a ram. In this case Aries is a desert or peninsular bighorn sheep.

Actually, this is the second time I painted a bighorn and named him Aries, so the painting is entitled Aries II.

In my opinion, bighorn sheep are the majestic animals of the desert -- so noble, so graceful -- and so endangered. The herd populations are slowly increasing in size, but they've got a way to go in areas that break up their habitat with highways, development, humans...stuff like that.

This scene is in Joshua Tree National Park, although I added the rock pinnacle that the bighorn is standing on, and I added the bighorn, too -- this one actually lives at the Living Desert Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Palm Desert, CA. I think I did an OK job of showing the space the way it would look with the bird's eye view, the pinnacle and the sheepie!

Enjoy!

Mark Junge

www.MarkJunge.com or SouthwestSpaces.com

Aries II                                  18" x 24" / 45.7cm x 61cm