The introduction of dissolving luminous atmosphere as practiced by J.M.W. Turner and luminous 19th century tonalists like Corot or George Inness begins with Claude Lorrain. All of these artists usually practiced the application of atmospheric perspective by dropping an obscuring curtain of bright light from the sky down into the landscape. The landscape would begin at the ground plane (or bottom of the picture) with a shadowy darkness from which bits of illuminated material (usually flora) emerged.
Artists still practice this principle with various strategies. By looking first at John Singer Sargent’s quick, small oil sketch (example 1) we find the light from the sky silhouetting the darkness of the landscape below. Bright patches of color (which we read as floral) pop out of this lower darkness. Here the atmosphere of the sky’s light competes against the lower darkness.
Example 1, John Singer Sargent’s atmosphere, 1879, small oil on panel study,
At about the same time (1880’s) a group of Italian impressionists called the Macchiaioli were testing a program of flat contrasting colored shapes. Many were in contact with French Impressionists. In example 2 you will find a field of colored shapes with the light and dark areas spread equally throughout the surface of the painting. The overall effect is one of luminosity. The farm feels as bright as the distant sky. The atmosphere is bright throughout.
Example 2, Giulia Bandini, 1887, small oil on panel,
We have now covered the category of 1. the dark atmosphere with a bright sky and 2.the flat overall bright atmosphere. A third option is deftly illustrated by the contemporary British artist, Charlotte Verity. Here, like Claude and Turner, the like diffuses from above and the painting begins to darken toward the bottom (the ground plane) because, we naturally feel shadows live here. Verity brings a collection of bright stringy vines and a few scattered leaf shapes out of this lower shadowed area. The strings of light and leaf shapes have force because they are set against this darker area. We feel the light emanate from above and slowly diffuse. Her title “Border” has a tender poetic ambiguity. It may refer to the combination of borders between lighter and darker areas.
Example 3, Charlotte Verity, Border, oil on canvas, 2016,
In my two painting examples I use different forms of atmospheric perspective with garden elements. Example 4 presents the first step. I began painting over an inverted cityscape. I would later delete passages of the dark over-layer to reveal the color notes below. Example 5 presents a darker lower area with bright notes popping out of its darkness. This darkness ascends into a blurry luminosity. The upper bright area dissolves the edge acuity of shapes as well as bleaches out contrasts. In this part of the painting contrast is partly determined by simultaneous contrast of violet and yellow.
Example 4. Step one, under painting of Cityscape to be inverted before over-painting,
Example 5. Painting (Lakeside Thistle in Morning Mist) in its current state.
My final example again offers a dark lower area which ascends into light. But here, there is no dissolving atmosphere obscuring edges as demonstrated in example 5. Instead there is flurry of brush strokes accumulating to give a feeling of brightening atmosphere. The last band of color is a light blue which suggests a distant space. It runs along the top of the flora before we enter the light sky.
Example 6 presents an earlier step in building my next painting. I laid down some reds and yellows in acrylic on the lower half of the painting before I begin. After the acrylic dried I covered the painting with darker colors. Then, I deleted shapes revealing patches of the acrylic color beneath. Next I applied shapes with opaque paint. Example 5 offers a glimpse of this earlier process.
Example 5. Step one, beginning deletions with acrylic underpainting
Example 6. The painting in its current state.
I invite you to join me at The Silvermine Art Center on Sunday evening October 29th at 4:30 PM for my lecture: The Science of Expression: How We Make and Express Emotion in Art and Ourselves. Silvermine Art Center in New Canaan, Ct. call 203 966 6668 ext 2.
Join me this November at Art of the Carolinas November 12. Contact Jerry’s Artarama.
November 12 workshop is: Fast City Life. Explore new methods, tools and perspectives to evoke cityscapes. Use registration code SU1709.
Visit Jerrysartarama.com then, enter art of the Carolinas in their search box to register for the workshops or, go directly to artofthecarolinas.com or, call 800 827 8478 ext 156.
If you find yourself near Sharon or Lakeville Connecticut then please visit the White Gallery in Lakeville, Connecticut, 342 Main Street. The exhibition is titled “David Dunlop’s Electric Cities”. Friday through Sunday Noon-4pm, 860 1029, thewhitegalleryart.com this exhibit runs through November 5.
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