Novatek South Addition Mural
This mural measures 22 feet high by 200 feet long
FINISHED MURAL WITH NEW FAUX MARBLE FLOOR
Here is a section of the mural finished with the new floor.
REFLECTIONS
more floor, less mural
FINISHED FIRST SECTION
The mural is now finished. This is the first section.
FINISHED SECOND SECTION
All the highlights and shadows are now finished on the snow and all over the rest of the mural.
FINAL THIRD SECTION
We tried to capture the twilight time of day. I think we were successful.
FINISHED FOURTH SECTION
Even the tops of the trees indicate the last few moments early evening light.
FINISHED FIFTH SECTION
I like the way the shadow and light plays on the rocky Timpanogos slopes.
FINISHED SIXTH SECTION
Provo Canyon.
FINISHED SEVENTH SECTION
I love the way the shadows and light bring out the rock forms on Cascade Peak.
ELK CLOSE UP
I'm not really a wildlife painter, yet I feel pretty good about how this bull elk turned out.
EIGHTH SECTION
Squaw Peak (the one with the red scrub oak trees on it's slopes) is mosly in shadow, but with a sliver of light at the top.
FINISHED NINTH SECTION
The middle section of Squaw Peak.
SQUAW PEAK
THis looks so real, it's like you can walk right through it! Pick any door.
LAST SECTION
This shows Rock Canyon during the last few moments of evening light.
Friday, September 2, 2011
A BUSY AND AWSOME DAY!
I headed to work at about 7:30 a.m. this morning, got organized and started on Cascade Peak (Cascade is a mountain peak in Utah Valley which has several waterfalls, including Bridal Veil Falls along the Provo Canyon route), at the Godzilla mural job site, picked up a 5ft. x 6 ft. painting from the frame shop at around 9 a.m. and then delivered it to a client. After that, it was back to the mural. I worked on the Mural until 3 p.m., then drove up Payson Canyon near Maple Dell Scout Camp and got out my plein air easel. I was all set up to paint by about 4 p.m. I had a stretched canvas which was 2 ft. x 4 ft. and wanted to see if I could plein air on a picture plane of that size (why not? I can paint murals). Not a problem :)! I worked until a crescent moon appeared and the sky started getting dark. For a plein air piece, it was a success! Tomorrow morning, I'm going back to the spot at about 8 a.m. I plan to to focus on a little detail then see if I can finish it. At noon, I'll walk across the road to pick up my wife who is getting Woodbadge training for scouts at the Maple Dell Camp. My wife Sammee is in a leadership role in Primary (that is what we call a Mormon children's Sunday School) at neighborhood LDS (Mormon) church. Part of her calling involves the Cub Scouts (or I always say, "Scrub Couts"). I'll post the plein air sketch soon. See ya later...
Thursday, September 1, 2011
I NAILED THE ATMOSPHERIC COLORS!
A Lesson Learned...
Back in about 2003, an important Utah art curator Vernon G. Swanson recognized my talent and technical skill with the paint brush then asked me, "Do you get out and plein air paint much?" I told him that I was trained in that method and firmly believed in this practice, but life happened, priorities went skeewompass and I got out of the habit. He then told me that only a small percentage of Utah landscape artists practiced plein air and encouraged me to get back into the habit.
En Plein Air, a french phrase which was first coined by the french impressionists movement of the nineteenth century, means to paint outside in the open air of nature. The idea was to capture the feeling of atmospheric natural light and freeze a moment in time using colored artists oil pigments. Most academic painters of this period, who were taught by the instructors of the top European art schools, were accustomed to the studio and often painted dark backdrops in their composition, working by candle light or gas lamp. Many of these academically trained artists, stuck with tradition, using formulas and constructed their paintings mainly in somber or muted tones. Another group of artists of this same period, at first few in number, were mocked and brushed off as incompetents. Their method of painting was first rejected by the annual Salon show, so they eventually made arrangements to have their own art exhibits. From these meager beginnings, the likes of Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissaro, Renoir' and others, soon became known as the French Impressionists. In their experimenting, as they labored to capture an accurate impression of naturalistic realism by painting the true color of atmospheric light, they discovered Impressionism. The French Impressionist School went on to become the world's most important art movement of that period. Since the early french impressionist movement, other so called "modern art" schools made a rise in popularity for a brief period, then soon ran out of steam, yet the principles and truths first taught by French Impressionists live on and are still very valid today.
My desire to become a professional artist, took root early in my childhood. By the time I was eight years old, I knew fine art would be my lifelong chosen career. One day at the local barber shop (Brad's Barber Shop) in Rexburg, Idaho where I grew up, Brad asked me what my name was and I proudly said, "My name is Russell Ricks and I'm an artist!" TMI perhaps, but I had clearly determined in my mind to spend my life creating art that people would enjoy.
In his teens, Brad Frandsen was employed at my father's sign business before he went on to become a barber. My father also had a strong desire to create art and sell to art collectors, but he didn't know if it was possible to really make a living as a fine artist. Needing to channel his creative desire into something productive, he learned the vocation of sign painting. In 1969, he had a brave idea to start a nationally advertised annual summer plein air workshop. Dad hired nationally renown art instructors to teach at his school then later built his own following and gained confidence in his ability to teach the principles of plein air painting. This annual plein air school ran for about fifteen years. Dad went on to have a very successful career as an artist. Besides learning from my father, the instructor who had a very big influence on me, was the late Sergei Bongart, a former Soviet impressionist and Kiev, Ukraine native. Sergei eventually escaped the communist country and immigrated to America. In 1969, my father and Bongart first met. The following year, the plein air school known as Painting Vacations was formed. In his lifetime and from his main art school in Santa Monica, California, Bongart taught literally thousands of aspiring artist, some of which later became successful career fine artist, others became art professors, teaching at the college level throughout America. From my upbringing (my training in the sign industry and as a plein air painter), I combine the two skills to paint my unusually enormous mural projects. I also sell art to collectors through art galleries or by private commission.
Of a more recent date, I took the opportunity to learn from an artist I deeply admire (Linda Curley-Christiensen) in August 2-6 of this year (2011). It was a wonderful experience --- an En Plein Air Art Workshop (confessedly my first in many years). For five days, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., we painted out in the open air. Each day, we set up our plein air easels at a different location and practiced trying to nail the true colors of nature. Coincidentally, since the curator talked to me in 2003, Linda recognized my well trained skill with the paint brush, observing also that I had developed a deep understanding of the principles of art said, "I know you can mix color. I also know you understand all the principles. All you have to do now is nail the atmospheric color, then you won't have any difficulty selling your fine art!" What a very nice compliment. :) I am humbled... And I have been out in the open air practicing plein air painting many times since her workshop. The result of that effort --- what I accomplished on the mural today! Although the mural, and even that particular mountain shown in the updated pictures on this blog (Squaw Peak) is far from being finished, it is proof that frequent plein air painting is an absolute must if you're a career landscape painter.
Thanks Linda, I finally got the message!
Back in about 2003, an important Utah art curator Vernon G. Swanson recognized my talent and technical skill with the paint brush then asked me, "Do you get out and plein air paint much?" I told him that I was trained in that method and firmly believed in this practice, but life happened, priorities went skeewompass and I got out of the habit. He then told me that only a small percentage of Utah landscape artists practiced plein air and encouraged me to get back into the habit.
En Plein Air, a french phrase which was first coined by the french impressionists movement of the nineteenth century, means to paint outside in the open air of nature. The idea was to capture the feeling of atmospheric natural light and freeze a moment in time using colored artists oil pigments. Most academic painters of this period, who were taught by the instructors of the top European art schools, were accustomed to the studio and often painted dark backdrops in their composition, working by candle light or gas lamp. Many of these academically trained artists, stuck with tradition, using formulas and constructed their paintings mainly in somber or muted tones. Another group of artists of this same period, at first few in number, were mocked and brushed off as incompetents. Their method of painting was first rejected by the annual Salon show, so they eventually made arrangements to have their own art exhibits. From these meager beginnings, the likes of Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissaro, Renoir' and others, soon became known as the French Impressionists. In their experimenting, as they labored to capture an accurate impression of naturalistic realism by painting the true color of atmospheric light, they discovered Impressionism. The French Impressionist School went on to become the world's most important art movement of that period. Since the early french impressionist movement, other so called "modern art" schools made a rise in popularity for a brief period, then soon ran out of steam, yet the principles and truths first taught by French Impressionists live on and are still very valid today.
My desire to become a professional artist, took root early in my childhood. By the time I was eight years old, I knew fine art would be my lifelong chosen career. One day at the local barber shop (Brad's Barber Shop) in Rexburg, Idaho where I grew up, Brad asked me what my name was and I proudly said, "My name is Russell Ricks and I'm an artist!" TMI perhaps, but I had clearly determined in my mind to spend my life creating art that people would enjoy.
In his teens, Brad Frandsen was employed at my father's sign business before he went on to become a barber. My father also had a strong desire to create art and sell to art collectors, but he didn't know if it was possible to really make a living as a fine artist. Needing to channel his creative desire into something productive, he learned the vocation of sign painting. In 1969, he had a brave idea to start a nationally advertised annual summer plein air workshop. Dad hired nationally renown art instructors to teach at his school then later built his own following and gained confidence in his ability to teach the principles of plein air painting. This annual plein air school ran for about fifteen years. Dad went on to have a very successful career as an artist. Besides learning from my father, the instructor who had a very big influence on me, was the late Sergei Bongart, a former Soviet impressionist and Kiev, Ukraine native. Sergei eventually escaped the communist country and immigrated to America. In 1969, my father and Bongart first met. The following year, the plein air school known as Painting Vacations was formed. In his lifetime and from his main art school in Santa Monica, California, Bongart taught literally thousands of aspiring artist, some of which later became successful career fine artist, others became art professors, teaching at the college level throughout America. From my upbringing (my training in the sign industry and as a plein air painter), I combine the two skills to paint my unusually enormous mural projects. I also sell art to collectors through art galleries or by private commission.
Of a more recent date, I took the opportunity to learn from an artist I deeply admire (Linda Curley-Christiensen) in August 2-6 of this year (2011). It was a wonderful experience --- an En Plein Air Art Workshop (confessedly my first in many years). For five days, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., we painted out in the open air. Each day, we set up our plein air easels at a different location and practiced trying to nail the true colors of nature. Coincidentally, since the curator talked to me in 2003, Linda recognized my well trained skill with the paint brush, observing also that I had developed a deep understanding of the principles of art said, "I know you can mix color. I also know you understand all the principles. All you have to do now is nail the atmospheric color, then you won't have any difficulty selling your fine art!" What a very nice compliment. :) I am humbled... And I have been out in the open air practicing plein air painting many times since her workshop. The result of that effort --- what I accomplished on the mural today! Although the mural, and even that particular mountain shown in the updated pictures on this blog (Squaw Peak) is far from being finished, it is proof that frequent plein air painting is an absolute must if you're a career landscape painter.
Thanks Linda, I finally got the message!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
PAINTING UP A STORM
I didn't get to the mural project until 10 a.m. this morning, because I had an important matter to take care of. In spite of it all, I accomplished quite a lot. You would think I spent days modeling with paint in the area I worked in. One of the supervisors over the project said he really liked how it was looking. Tomorrow, I plan to move on to Cascade and Y Mountains. Then I hope to work the foreground before the weeks end. The idea is to paint everything so it looks like most of it is in shadow, except the upper portion of the mountains will have the vibrant reflected light from the sun as it is setting in the western sky. The mood is in the twilight time of the evening during the last few minutes of intense evening light. Let's see if I can keep up the pace I set today as I work on the rest of the mural over the next few days.
Monday, August 29, 2011
GOOD PROGRESS TODAY
It looks like by the end of the week we might have al the mountains blocked in with a good amount of form so they won't look so flat. I do like the postery graphic patterns which are developing though. They show good gestault, which means that the positive and negative shapes ( patterns ) balance very well together. Since the mural as a whole looks pretty solid in it's simplified graphically abstract forms, this is a good sign that the scene will hold together well to a more detailed finish. In this project, I plan to keep the details simplified. Mood quality and nailing the colors so they look atmospheric, is the most important here.
As long as I don't have too many interruptions this week, I think it is possible to have some consistent identifiable form on all the mountains and in the foreground shapes by the weeks end. We'll see how it goes.
As long as I don't have too many interruptions this week, I think it is possible to have some consistent identifiable form on all the mountains and in the foreground shapes by the weeks end. We'll see how it goes.
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