“It is not flat dead colour, but a deep, quivering, transparent body of penetrable air, in which you trace or imagine short falling spots of deceiving light, and dim shades, faint veiled vestiges of dark vapour.”
Painting: Thomas Hill (1829-1908), View of Yosemite Valley, 1871. Thanks, Armand.
Wikipedia on John Ruskin and Modern Painters
6 comments:
In his fxpodcast segment
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fxguide-fxpodcast/id78811731
Dan Curry also talks plein air, about rendering the atmosphere, not the surfaces.
It's a long interview, but I really like that bit in the middle.
One more reason to look at the sky:
Awe inspired.
great observation Mr. Ruskin but easier said than done! :)
OT, a new film about Pieter Brueger:
http://www.kinolorber.com/themillandthecross/index.html
Thanks for sharing! Honestly, the sky is necessarily blue. The sun and other weather can have big effects on what we see - probably why sunsets and sunrises look red and/or orange to us.
It presumes one HAS some definite atmosphere. We here in New Mexico have to strain to see it most days. I can literally see the individual trees on the top of the mountain that's 23 miles away. How do you approach painting the clear, thin desert air?
Deborah, you raise a good point. I find clear air nice to live in, but less satisfying to paint. Give me smog, smoke, dust, or fog any day.
Nick and My Pen, thanks for the links.
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