Changing Colors

"Changing Colors" -- no, this is not about what happens to leaves in the fall.

The colors that we see in the world are not absolute. What we see depends on many factors: other colors that are nearby, time of day, and in this case -- the amount of light that is falling on the colored object.

Model railroading is sort of a combined hobby/kinetic sculpture for me. As a painter, I rarely make three-dimensional objects. But a model railroad fulfills that need in me. I've often had layouts in progress, but most I never finished. Except for one.

It was a small (3' x 3'/less than 1m x 1m) HO scale setup with red rock scenery typical of southern Utah. I even collected containers of the reddish soil found in the Monument Valley area. I had some house paint mixed to match, then I painted the layout and dusted it with the sand I collected to provide a realistic texture.

There was only one problem. That beautiful rusty red coloring soil when viewed outside in the sun, looked like dried blood when seen inside under typical home lighting. Red-rock soil is darker than it appears when seen in nature.

I often wondered why so many of the older en plein aire paintings (or, as I like to say, "in plain air; it's French for "in the open air," or it's painted outside) sometimes seemed too dark, with muted colors and low-to-moderate contrast. My lesson with red rock scenery was this: if you paint outside with accurate colors, those colors will be accurate only when the painting is outside!

I still believe that landscape painters like my myself need to do some en plein aire painting -- it teaches the artist many things about color. But if the artist is a studio painter like me, colors, lights and darks may have to be adjusted to look correct, even if a direct comparison shows that the colors and values are not.

Thus, although my paintings look real to most people, I usually manipulate things so that I can direct the eye around the canvas and give the impression of reality.

By the way, I hope to start a new, small model railroad soon. I collected some red soil from the Page, AZ area -- it matched a color swatch I made before going. The dirt appears lighter and more golden than the Monument Valley soil and should work better. If it doesn't, I guess I'll need to apply the sand and rocks and THEN paint the entire thing so that it looks good indoors, while keeping the rough textures I want. (I'll post photos when it's done -- which could be a while).

It's been a long time since I've made a piece of 3D art. I'm ready!

A New Year for More Desert Paintings

Well, heck! Here it is, ten days into the new year, and I haven't had time to write anything yet!

So -- HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYBODY!!!

OK -- so what's in store for 2012?

It appears I won't be teaching microbiology or anything else biology this spring, and I never teach during the summer. Maybe next fall. I'll be looking for other teaching positions at other community colleges, but I doubt I would teach this semester no matter who hires me (if anybody). But I'll try.

Meanwhile, I seem to have gotten over the funk I was going through last year -- I'm starting to do art again, with the idea of selling it. So far, I have only one venue: the Crystal Fantasy, a kind of an Enlightenment/crystals/fairies gift shop with gallery space. They've sold a couple of my paintings within the last few weeks; more fun: I even sold a large piece off of my Website!

So I'll continue to make artwork that Crystal Fantasy may be able to sell to tourists and locals alike, and otherwise I'll be optimizing my Website (which, by the way, is http://www.southwestspaces.com/ or http://www.markjunge.com/) so I can hopefully sell more from it. No more art shows, no other galleries (unless they want to buy the works outright -- no more consignment stuff) -- just Internet sales.

At the same time, I'm not blind to the concept of how hard Website sales-only is going to be. But the costs will be minimal. I'd like to have postcards printed up with an image, my name and logo, and the two URLs mentioned above. Then I'd send these to frame shops (or any other place where potential art customers might come to) with an incentive offer: I'd pay the shops for any clients who see the postcard and buy a painting from me as a result of the shop's cooperation. It sounds workable, and I'd get an image and name out in areas where people never heard of Mark Junge, desert paintings, before.

Finally, I still plan on writing an illustrated book about the end-of-the-year holidays.

We'll see how 2012 works out. Meanwhile, this is the painting I sold off of my Website. Happy New Year!!!

Old-Fashioned?

Unfortunately, I continue to feel burned-out and lacking in any confidence whatsoever when it comes to the idea of painting for a living. I'm still considering trying my hand at writing, but I'm not feeling especially confident there, either. And I feel so TIRED all the time!

On a related note, one of the art business forums I belong to had a question posted in their Art Business section by an artist who has a lot of trouble selling his traditional landscape paintings. Following are excerpts from a couple of insightful (IMO) responses:

"I finally came to believe that with regard to traditional landscapes, people HAVE FINALLY SEEN IT ALL. What with exciting computer games, camera phones, youtube, etc., it takes a lot nowadays to visually stimulate people - they respond to things that are new and different. And traditional landscapes are...well...not new and different. They ARE regarded as out-of-date - they have been around for - how many centuries?"

"...landscapes are very old fashioned and unless there is something really interesting and unique to them, you better be happy simply painting for yourself and have no need to sell. Many of the traditional galleries in this region are not moving quiet landscapes at all, mainly because there are bigger, brighter and more interesting subjects and styles which get attention (figurative works are really hot right now). As well, landscapes are seen as something which parents or grandparents have on their walls and buyers are getting younger and younger. (or we're getting older!)"

Has this been my problem all along? Younger buyers aren't buying traditional landscapes because they're old-fashioned and not exciting enough? I've also seen landscapes on deviantArt.com that look like they could be backdrops for video games or for movies like "Avatar." Is that the look I should go for (if I want to try selling artwork again?)

Surreal Desert Paintings, Surreal Desert Landscapes and Other Art Stuff

Lots of big plans for the immediate future. Let's see if I have the time and/or energy to pull them off!

First: the end of the year holidays...Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. (New Years always seems to be a downer for me, so it's not listed). Every year, I go looking for books with neat images of these holidays -- images along the lines of something I might do. And you know what? I never find books like that.

So-o-o...I've been thinking: maybe I need to paint up holiday paintings that I would want to see in a book, and then produce/write the books myself! I do have a bent toward writing as well as art, and this would be one way to do both. In fact, I've been trying to think up writing projects for years, ever since the late 1980's when I took a class in which the teacher had us write in a way that conjures up images in the readers' minds. Lots of adverbs, metaphors, similes and such. (I wrote my biography on my Website in this style).

Of course, I'm also thinking of other writing projects: perhaps short stories or even novels. I'm also considering a collection of essays on the trials and tribulations of artists. (Well, OK, the good things about the artist's life, too!)

Secondly: I haven't been painting wall art for a while now, but I've been thinking (OMG -- he's been thinking!!!)...

Sometimes I wonder if the traditional approach to making landscapes is seen as too old-fashioned, at least among the younger art buyers. My type of landscapes are what their parents and their grandparents have on their walls. This entire style of working has been done to death, and frankly, it's a lot of work for so little financial reward. It's certainly no way to run a business!

So, as I wonder to myself as I look at other Websites, maybe I should try making desert landscapes with strong hints of fantasy or surrealism to them. I've seen images that look like they belong in video games or in sci-fi/fantasy movies such as "Avatar." The landscapes look real, but they're unworldly or etherial at the same time. Is THIS what people want on their walls? Colorful and real-but-not-real?

As usual, this semi-burned-out artist has got lots to think about. I need creative outlets, yet I need to make more $$$ than the P/T teaching position gives me.

BTW, there's always a method to my madness. The title of this post came about because I Googled "surreal desert paintings." This blog came up #5 in the list! It's the exact title I used in a post a long time ago. Knowing that, I titled this post so, if I'm lucky, someone just might discover my paintings -- including the surreal desert kind which aren't even done yet!

If you're one of those -- be patient! Don't forget: I'm at http://www.southwestspaces.com.

Maroon Bells

Ahhh... it's finally autumn.

Autumn in the desert is much more subtle than the painting you see here. This scene is in Colorado. The distant mountains are the Maroon Bells near the town of Aspen.

Fall must be the most popular time to visit the area. The road leading to the parking lot is closed to all but a few people, and one must go to a park in Aspen to catch a shuttle bus that hauls tourists to the parking lot, where they can see the mountains and Maroon Lake which often appears in photos.

That day, I arrived there in the early afternoon. I didn't know where the park was and didn't have enough money for the shuttle. So I walked. I was told at the gate that the Maroon Bells come into view after the first six miles, and the parking lot and lake were two miles beyond that.

Well, I managed to trudge the first six miles uphill, and that was all I could handle that day after picking up unsold artwork from an exhibit in Glenwood Springs. Plus, although the day was partly cloudy when I arrived, in typical Colorado fashion, it completely clouded over by the time I saw the peaks. I even got drizzled on. It figures.

So I took pictures of the Bells and the surrounding area, saw some deer and eventually turned around and walked back to my truck.

This painting, then, is one of the works I made from that little walk. Instead of the usual Maroon Lake, I included Maroon Creek in the scene which -- except for the distant mountains -- is not exactly how things looked. (I pulled out my artists' license for this painting). I wanted to paint a different version of Maroon Bells, not the same view that millions of other folks photograph or paint.

One of the problems with painting the creek instead of the lake is how it brings out the "everyone's a critic" tendency in people. One man at an art show who saw the piece rolled his eyes in -- disgust? -- and pointed out there should be a lake there. I told him the lake was two miles up from where I was at that time. I'm not sure he believed me or not, but that does happen in the world of art.

Well, anyway, I love fall -- it seems like a feeling similar to the migratory instinct comes alive in me. Autumn makes me feel both excited and anxious at the same time.

Maybe I'm part duck. =)

Arches

Arches National Park has gotta be one of my most favorite places on earth. The reddish sandstone, the spires and -- of course -- the many arches gives the land an eerie, surreal sense of the very rocks being alive.

That's why I saw a painting of a scene in the Park that showed unearthly colors and dramatic lighting that added to the mystery of this place. The painting was entitled, simply, Arches and was executed by a living artist I greatly admire, D. Michael McCarthy. He and I are both inspired by the works of 19th century painter, Thomas Moran:

When I saw Michael's Arches painting in a gallery window, all I could do was stop in my tracks and stare at it...for I don't remember how long. This was one of those pieces that changed my life...or at least, changed how I wanted to portray the world in my art from that time forward. Seeing reproductions of Moran's work was one thing. Experiencing Michael's work was quite another.

So, my version of Arches was inspired by, but is not a copy of, Michael's artwork. I can't tell if my piece affects others the way Michael's painting affected me. I hope so.

I'd like to think I made the world just a little better by painting this:

May I Borrow Your Crystal Ball?

Had a bit of a scare this week...

As some of you know, I teach microbiology part-time at a local community college. When the semester started this past Monday, I had only six students enrolled in my class. That's not very many, and I know the college folks were seriously considering transferring the six to the the morning class, taught by another instructor. And I'd be unemployed for the rest of the year.

However, all six students work full-time during the day and were unable to switch. Since micro is the last course these guys need to continue on into nursing school, simply canceling the class would have screwed them up majorly. So the class will continue on, and I'll be receiving a paycheck for the rest of the year, barring complications on my part.

But the scare brought to mind why I promised myself, years ago, that I'd never again have only one financial lifeline. It's so easy to have that lifeline cut for any number of reasons, or for no reason at all. I'd love to have a Plan B -- some kind of income-generating enterprise to supplement the teaching position.

Frankly, other than selling paintings, I don't have a Plan B, and art sales are definitely suffering during these horrid economic times (which could get worse in the days ahead according to some economists).

The only thing I can do at this point is to go ahead and make paintings that will be put up for sale...some day. I don't know if this recession will end in my lifetime -- I hope so, but who knows?

In any case, I still plan to paint landscapes that I want to keep -- but sell them if/when the right opportunity comes. Not just any opportunity, but the right one. I won't be so easy-going in the future, even if it costs me sales. I just can't invest large quantities of time or money, or have pieces hanging in a gallery with no financial commitment on the part of the gallery owner, while I try to figure out how to survive.

Sometimes I really wish I could look into the future. Maybe I could then figure out where to go with things. But I guess all I can do is my paint my best artwork possible and hope enough people (who are surviving the recession) will like the paintings, too.