– Jeanne Mackenzie reporting –
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, Brad Clark’s “In the Vines.”
Lead Image: “In the Vines,” by Brad Clark, oil on linen panel, 12 x 16 in.
This painting has some wonderful simplified shapes. Even though vineyards are very symmetrical, the artist has taken the warm ground and incorporated interesting angles and shapes. The warm, more yellow greens of the vines come forward and add a touch of detail. The cool lavender/blue of the hills is a supporting player without lots of detail to distract. Softening the edges of the clouds or changing the angles would refine the cloud shape that mimics the mountain shape. The small spot of a house is a wonderful accent to help lead your eye back into the painting.
