In this series, plein air painter and instructor Jeanne Mackenzie takes a look at new paintings by contemporary artists and points out why they succeed as painted images. This week, Deborah Lazar’s “Chase Brook, Vermont.”
The subtle tones of this painting emanate the feel of deep woods. As a low-key painting, there is a good range of dark, middle, and light values. It is a successfully strong composition as the river leads you back into the distance. The dynamic river diagonal is countered by the local trees. Neutral tones of the secondary triad (orange, violet, green) add energetic color to a scene that many artists would portray solely as brown and grey.
