Summer Light at Night

Summer Light at Night,

Some might say this reminds me of the black light stuff from the seventies; call me an old hippie, I loved it then and still do. Andy’s soup can paintings blew us away and reminded artists of the day that art is bought for many reasons including chicken noodle soup. www.artbrokerage.com/artist/Andy-Warhol
Mr. Warhol would no doubt shudder at my comparison but perhaps Vincent www.vangoghgallery.com might have approved the use of rare earth phosphorus had he come across it. Starry Night speaks volumes about how night light intrigued Van Gogh and no doubt invaded his dreams.

Phosphorus can be extended into both acrylic and oil vehicles to produce dramatic effects when different types of lights or the lack there of are introduced. When painting with phosphorus; light in a manor of speaking becomes fluid on the palette. Working in a dark room environment the artist is actually painting in the dark. Each artist will of course take creative license as to how this process will unfold for them and as artists we must intuitively know that what we paint is LIGHT. Speaking purely for my self I readily seize every opportunity to explore LIGHT from any and all possible perspectives least of all light at night.

Happy night painting,

Len Sodenkamp
www.sodenkampart.com

Summer Light at Night 24 x 30 inches acrylic and phosphorus on box panel Lights On-Lights Off Series by Len Sodenkamp
As viewed in the dark with lights off and the introduction of a small amount of diffused black light.

Night Flowers

Night Flowers,

Some times I paint the same way I cook, what ever is in the fridge goes in the pot. A stew can be a wonderful meal of acquired ingredients all mixed together in a great tasting sauce. Pulling out old painting techniques and combining materials with dust on their lids can taste wonderful to the soul. Revisiting the first time you tried this or that stimulates warm creative feelings. It’s a lot like the feeling of bumping into an old friend and realizing how much you missed them.

I tend to paint in series of works or variations on a theme; so looking back five years I see strong interesting elements no longer being used in my current work. This is unfortunate because those dormant techniques could perhaps work very well in my next painting.

Yesterday I ran into several old friends and had great time painting Night Flowers.

Happy reunion painting,

Len Sodenkamp
www.sodenkampart.com
Acrylic on box panel 12 x 21 inches by Len Sodenkamp

Night paintings

What does color look like at night? There can be no better resource on the topic of night color then Frederic Remington. Many are not aware of his work in the area of night painting. I found a wonderful assemblage of Fred Remington’s night paintings in a book called :( The Color of Night) by Nancy K. Anderson, with essays by Alexander Nemerov and William C. Sharpe; in my opinion a most amazing addition to any art resource library.

Who doesn’t love moon light, especially a perfect full moon breaking over a high mountain ridge. Then top it off with fast moving clouds propelled by a cool summer breeze across a breath taking pristine alpine lake.

Night painting or painting concepts of what a particular composition might look like at night is a fascinating exploration of color and light.

Happy night painting,

Len Sodenkamp
Links to my original art as well as fine art prints go to www.sodenkampart.com
Oil on box panel 20 x 30 inches by Len Sodenkamp

Summers Light

Well the days are getting shorter and even though it’s a beautiful summer here in Idaho the season change is on the horizon. From the garden ideas spin as life flows from my watering wand and the plants respond with amazing work. An impression is born recalling planting those tiny seeds.

This painting began several weeks ago just debating on what medium to use. Oil dominates my pallet and found it interesting that I was leaning toward acrylic. Admittedly conventional acrylics were not at work but rather a combination of products I have become familiar with over the years. The subject is so three dimensional it seamed fun to build shapes from the surface to achieve a more 3-D effect. The relief flora shapes would also help to place interesting light and shadow.

This work was just completed and represents the forth of its kind. Certainly a departure from my plein air or studio work but then some times it’s just fun to depart into Summers Light.

Happy summer painting,

Len Sodenkamp
www.sodenkampart.com artist Len Sodenkamp 24.5 x 31.5 mixed media