Two new paintings

14 Friday Jun 2024

Posted by janterjerafdal in Uncategorized

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mountain snow melting Norway Etne Rafdal painting landscape, Mountains Fjell Etnefjell Etne Rafdal Norwegian landscape art painting, norwegian landscape etne rafdal snow

I always make an effort to supply my galleries with new works. At times with a busy schedule and many commissions, it’s still important to throw in a few extra pieces that will be worked on alongside the works that are pre-ordered. These two very different paintings have been worked on side by side over the last months. The smallest being a commission for a customer, and the other one will probably end up being selected by one of my gallerists for display in their gallery.

80×120 cm. Acrylic and oil on canvas.

This piece was commissioned by a professional photographer, whom as expected provided the image. I had to take on those midrange trees. I have always found trees to be a challenging task to portray.

I selected this image from a series of pictures provided by the photographer. The reason I went with this one, was the repeating shapes appearing in the foreground, midrange and background. Those are: The patch of snow, the tree line, and the main part of the mountaintop. I would also say that the clouds provide a fourth element of repetition. So it’s a bit like 1, 2, 3 and 4. This rhythm had a special appeal to me.

100×135 cm. Acrylic and oil on canvas.

I have actually done this motif before a few times, the first piece being a private commission. This time, I chose to tune down the colour range and give it a gritty grey appearance. Hey, they can’t all have blue skies. For those of us with the privilege of having access to such wonderfull outdoor hikes, we all know many days will be overcast and grey. It’s still a sublime experience.

The long walk home

04 Tuesday Oct 2022

Posted by janterjerafdal in Paintings

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mountain snow melting Norway Etne Rafdal painting landscape

After more than a decade of working with snow as the focus and most prominent feature in my paintings, I came to a point where it seemed natural to explore a different approach. A photo taken on a hiking trip a few years back caught my attention, as it had the structure and clean patches of sand, gras and rocks that could step in for the discipline I get from patches of snow. I knew this would take me trough a much broader colour palette. The danger of ending up with a giant mash was imminent. So, this called for structure and discipline. Keep it simple, or …

The motif is a grand lake in the area I get most of my references for my works. The lake “Løkjelsvatnet” was used as the reservoir for a grand hydropower plant built in 1918, and the natural water level was raised by 11 meter with a dam, and lowered by the same measure by drilling. In total this lake has the potential of being regulated a total of 22 meters. This cause for huge changes in the local environment. However, the moon-like landscape has always intrigued me.

Well, I soon had to surrender my firm strategy. This could not be done without a very high number of visits with the masking tape and some fresh cut stensil to facilitate the enormous amount of small rocks and patches of moorland, gras, gravel (exposed by the lowering of the water level), ponds and further features. My hours at this piece were adding up, as did my frustration of never quite hitting the mark on some of the illuminated parts in the background.

I will now take you through a small part of this process. These images shows my third visit at the river and the lake. I had two different layers down, and I was not quite happy with the lack of reflection.

*I used a roller to create the reflections and highlights in the river. I also gave the lower section of the lake some shine.*

This is before the masking tape comes off. Note how the paint is sitting on the surface. This is a titanium white from Lascaux with a slight touch of cobalt blue. I use their “artist” series due to the thick quality. It has an oil colour feel to it.

*The current state after this visit. Hopefully the piece will be finished in a couple of weeks.*

So, this is just one of many typical small operations that comprise one of my paintings. I will come back with a new post when the piece is completed. This experimental work has proven to be a tough one to break. It sure feels like some of those long walks home after a hike. You know you’ll get there, but the last hills are a bit of a climb.

“Vikafjellet” revisited!

20 Tuesday Dec 2016

Posted by janterjerafdal in Behind the scenes, Paintings

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mountain snow melting Norway Etne Rafdal painting landscape, vikafjellet

Having worked as a professional full-time artist for some 18 years, I feel fairly confident about my M.O. during the work on my main series of paintings. However, sometimes things go sideways, backwards and occasionally nowhere. For those reading my previous post about Vikafjellet, you might remember the 160×130 format I presented as a finished work. Well, the piece has been bugging me for some time, sitting in the studio corner. There was something unresolved about the composition, after all the usual layers and features were applied.

I decided to make this piece into an experiment. Adding dark patina, some additional sanding (thus exposing the acrylics making it difficult to apply terps and oil colors) and some more clouds and mist. The lower section really bugged me, as the shape of the snow in the foreground seemed odd and not playing very well along with the rest of the composition.

The darker tone makes for more of a dramatic feel to the piece as it now sits. I’m very content and will certainly not be afraid to revisit works in the future.

Anything can happen …

vikafjelletii-160x130