Thursday, November 20, 2008

"Afternoon Light on San Miguel"

There are several new paintings that I want to post, but I have not had much time to get them together for the blog.
Here is a new one that I am pretty happy with. This is a late afternoon view of San Miguel. I really like this vantage point of town. There is a small hill and then a dip. The mid distance trees in light are hiding part of San Miguel and then the part that you see here rises up. The setting sun was casting a nice orange glow to everything and the foreground was in shadow. I like the green, purple, orange color scheme of this piece.



"Afternoon Light on San Miguel", 18" x 24" oil on linen
Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection


I'll work on getting a few other posts up soon. Thanks for checking in.

34 comments:

Alicia PadrĂ³n said...

Ohhh this is fantastic amigo!! I almost fell the need to put my sunglasses on in order to see it! ;o)

The light is amazing. I love how you go from the darker, closer greens to those lovely spots of beautiful bright color. Gorgeous painting Frank!

Frank Gardner said...

Gracias Alicia!
I never wear sunglasses. It changes the true colors of nature!

That foreground in shadow with the purples and greens sold me on that vista.

Glad you like it.

Stacey Peterson said...

Love the light in this one Frank - it's beautiful!

I've tagged you, btw - I have a feeling you've already been tagged, but I didn't see a post so there you go - check out my blog for the info!

Frank Gardner said...

Thank you Stacey! For the compliment on the painting that is : )
Yeah, I was tagged last week, but have been slow on getting it posted, all those links and everything.
I'll get on it soon. Promise.

Solvay said...

I'll wait to comment til after Bonnie writes - she accused me : ) of using up all the good words. Go ahead, Bonnie; I'll see what I can do with the leftovers!
: )

Daniel Corey said...

Great Piece, and thanks for putting the viewer in the shade, looks mighty warm there. Dan

Janelle Goodwin said...

This painting is absolutely beautiful. Warm and beautiful.

Jennifer Thermes said...

Love that warm light, Frank. We could use some up here! ;-)

Marc R. Hanson said...

Wonderful light Frank. I feel for you... your 'tags' are stacking up like my bills! ;)

Theresa Rankin said...

Beautiful stunning light! I can feel this place. A very successful piece!

Frank Gardner said...

Hi Solveg, well, it's in the way you arrange the words anyway.
I'm sure you could arrange even the leftovers to sound flattering.

Thanks Dan! It's not too warm today, that's for sure.

Thank you Janelle!

Thanks Jennifer! Cold here too. The sun feels good though.

Hi Marc, yeah, if I don't hurry I'll get tagged again before I pass it on. This one is spreading around fast.
Thanks!

Thanks Theresa!

Daniel Corey said...

It was 15 degrees this morning in southern Maine. Thats cold.

Frank Gardner said...

You win Dan.

Anonymous said...

What a beauty and a bigger size than usual.
Living in a warm climate year round, I can really feel the temperature change in this piece Frank. From being in the protected cool shadow in the foreground looking out into that late afternoon heat.
You've gotten it just so right and so beautifully.
Did you use a premixed palette on this one?
It gives the appearance of a more random application of paint.

Solveg- Frank is right- it's not the ingredients, it's the chef.
You'll cook up something delicious to say, I know.

mike rooney studios said...

the purple green and orange works my friend. when you say its cold there you mean its 75 dont you? shivering here in NC at 45 degrees.very unusual for us to be that in nov.
thats our jan temp.
so much for the global warming theory eh? try to stay warm in your winter shorts and flip flops.
Bonnieluria that goes for you too LOL!

Frank Gardner said...

Thanks Bonnie. I've been doing a bunch of the 18x24 size lately. I picked up a bigger easel on my trip north and I'm trying to get bigger paintings done with it.

No pre mixed palette here Bonnie.

"it's not the ingredients it's the chef" I like that one. Works well with paint too. I'll have to pull that one out in a class.

Frank Gardner said...

Hi Mike. Umm, well, it's about 60 probably right now. 45 or 50 this morning when I got up. Our thermometer is kind of protected. I hear it was a little colder than that.

This is one of the coldest parts of the year for us usually, so it is not too strange. We really feel it when there is a cold north wind blowing. When this front dies down and the wind starts coming from the south again it will warm up.

I actually have on a few shirts and a fleece. Bonnie, on the other hand, is probably running around barefoot.

Bill Sharp said...

Beautiful, Frank. I always admire your brushwork.

I don't feel sorry for you even if it is 45 degress out. At least you can see the sun. We're not likely to see much of it until July.

Mary Brewster said...

I admire the sense of distance that you have achieved even with the yellower colors on the far hills and the bluer ones closer. I wish I could see it in person! My compliments!

Frank Gardner said...

Hi Bill. Thanks.
Well, that's why it was so cold today. there was no sun.
It does not stay hidden for long though.

Frank Gardner said...

Hi Mary. Thanks.

Solvay said...

Okay, well, I'm particularly a fan of the smoky mountain off to the far left and the rock/wall in the lower right - they set the stage for me. And that dusky quality of the sky along with the hazy, indeterminate edge of the main mountain - I'm a fan of that, too. That golden glow plus the cool shadow that Bonnie described better than I am - nice cooking, Bonnie! - : ) - it reminds me of that feeling of being in warm, still-air sunshine when it feels like summer, and then suddenly the sun is below your personal horizon line and you feel like you might soon freeze to death. Though there's no death at all in your painting. The vibrant green growth at the tips of my eyes' toes shouts out life in a big way! GREAT color!!!!!!!! People should ditch travelling to Florence and focus on St. Miguel de Allende! Maybe make a bunch of repros of this painting for the local tourism industry!!!!!
: )
Solveg

I'm not even going to proofread - I can't stand the pressure, I've got to get out of the kitchen!

Frank Gardner said...

Thanks Solveg, for the thoughtful description of why you like this one.
I like to know what people find appealing or not in a piece.

Yes, everyone should come here. Great food, great light, great people, sun, closer than Europe.

Solvay said...

and great donkeys!

Anonymous said...

Sidebar:
Solveg- another 4 star Michelin comment! You didn't use ALL the good words, just the best combination of them.

Mike and Frank- flip flops or barefoot. Ha.
Well maybe a little bit but something has to compensate for living in a hurricane epicenter, an earthquake zone, and amidst frequent power outages. Oh, and bugs.

:-)

Kelley Carey MacDonald said...

You are so lucky to live there, and you did such a wonderful job of completely capturing the beautiful view of SM. I think you're convincing people that there's nowhere else like it.

Frank Gardner said...

Yes Solveg, and great donkeys.

Thanks for putting up with living there Bonnie. Mighty honorable of you : )

Hi Kelley. There IS nowhere else like it!
Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Great light in this ,Frank.
Your shapes for the impression of the town read really well in my eyes.
(...still chuckling at your avitar (?) that is unexpectedly funny)

take care..

Frank Gardner said...

Thanks Frank! Glad you like the avitar. Took me a while to put one.

Mary Sheehan Winn said...

wow, I love this one. The structure and design factor really jumped out.
The lush Mexican color.

Frank Gardner said...

Thanks Mary, yeah, I love the color when town lights up like this.

Christine Mercer-Vernon said...

i always like when you work larger, so much more breathing room for your brushstrokes. they almost take on a tapestry like look to me, i don't know if that makes sense?? i like how simple you kept the buidlings yet it's very obvious that there is an entire town nestled down in that valley. great contrast from foreground to background with colors.

Frank Gardner said...

Hi Christine. I can see the tapestry reference in this one. I like that overall pattern look sometimes. And yes, I like the freedom of a larger canvas too.

Solvay said...

I've been forgetting to mention that Sunday morning, here, the sky was SO MUCH like this one you painted - different temperature and everything, but that "dusky" (even though it was morning), misty, nonfog-noncloud wispy thing going on in the air, catching the low-horizon light...........anyway, I drove out of town and said, "HEY! It's Frank Gardner's sky!" Really, I did!

Anyway, I took you up on your post-prod and put a couple of things on my blog. Not sure there'll ever be anything else, but you are officially invited to stop by. ...not like you have nothing else to do..........ah, the woes of popularity!
: )

Happy Eve of Thanksgiving Eve!
Solveg

oops - I almost clicked on ANONYMOUS!!!!
: )