From the Artist: Acoma Sky City is an Indian Pueblo village built on top of a high mesa, with the mission church dominating the skyline. I was trying to capture the feeling of ascending the steep pathway to the top, winding through ravines and around huge boulders. I also tried to simplify the skyline, making the city appear as a vision in the distance. I did this small painting from memory and from a collection of my photos taken there in 2004.
Never would I have tackled an abstract-type painting if it were not for this month's painting project. I had fun doing this painting, and it opened my eyes to a whole new concept of painting ideas. I don't know if I will ever do another, as I continue to paint in my senior years. But I surely will have more appreciation for the planning and work that goes into abstract paintings.
From the Painting Guide: I'm always thrilled when someone tries something new because of one of my painting projects. You never know quite what you might get from it until you give it a go, but too often people aren't willing to try even once. You may not feel like doing another, but I'd hope you'd keep this painting and look at it again later and perhaps reconsider.
While in terms of "city abstraction" this painting is very much dominated by landscape rather than cityscape, I like it very much. It's got a strong sense of location, of the earth tones in a dry landscape, of height and distance. While the detail in the foreground (plants) pulls my eye down the composition ensuring I look at the foreground, it doesn't overwhelm the focal point (the buildings).
There's a pleasing balance between the strong horizontal, vertical, and angled lines. It's never so busy that my eye doesn't know where to look, with the colors and lines working together to create a composition that's interesting and appealing.
Never would I have tackled an abstract-type painting if it were not for this month's painting project. I had fun doing this painting, and it opened my eyes to a whole new concept of painting ideas. I don't know if I will ever do another, as I continue to paint in my senior years. But I surely will have more appreciation for the planning and work that goes into abstract paintings.
From the Painting Guide: I'm always thrilled when someone tries something new because of one of my painting projects. You never know quite what you might get from it until you give it a go, but too often people aren't willing to try even once. You may not feel like doing another, but I'd hope you'd keep this painting and look at it again later and perhaps reconsider.
While in terms of "city abstraction" this painting is very much dominated by landscape rather than cityscape, I like it very much. It's got a strong sense of location, of the earth tones in a dry landscape, of height and distance. While the detail in the foreground (plants) pulls my eye down the composition ensuring I look at the foreground, it doesn't overwhelm the focal point (the buildings).
There's a pleasing balance between the strong horizontal, vertical, and angled lines. It's never so busy that my eye doesn't know where to look, with the colors and lines working together to create a composition that's interesting and appealing.