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, Robert J. Simone‘s “Washington’s Crossing Atmosphere.”
This is a beautiful pastoral scene that follows many of the principles of the Golden Mean. The painting appears to be a ‘green’ painting, but look closely and you will see those secondary colors peeking through to give it energy while being harmonious. The lavender road is a perfect foil for the green pasture, and the touch of orange gives the sky a nice contrasting glow. The distant hill has a vibrating variety of warms and cools. The ducks/geese give the scene a sense of proportion.
his home in Taos, New Mexico