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

From the Garden

Tending the garden during the hot days of July and August can get a bit overwhelming at times. The commitment to take care of what you have sown is not unlike caring of a dog or cat. We plant vegetables inter mixed with flowers and feast on fresh picked goodies wile also enjoying the lush greenery they provide.

This small 12 x 16 inch oil on panel was painted plein air taking ideas from my surroundings and building a composition. Wile it is of no particular place it must represent many places throughout my life I have seen. Perhaps even the Yellow Brick Road or in this case the sand stone path.

The making of this art took about one hour working wet into wet oil on a 12 x 16 panel. I used one 3/4 inch flat brush and a medium sized pallet knife. Using just the three primaries and white I squeeze out lots of paint on a large glass pallet and begin by mixing piles of warm and cool colors. When painting plein air the light is always changing so you need to put the paint on and leave it alone. I can’t tell you how many paintings I have destroyed in the last five minutes only to realize what I had done to an otherwise nice work. Plein air is not like studio work; it takes determination to set up out side in the elements and attempt to paint the natural world. As frustrating as it can be at first I highly recommend getting out of the studio and painting in the outdoors. It will challenge you.

Happy summer painting

The Colors of a Summer Garden

The colors of a summer garden takes me back to my childhood growing up with parents who loved their yard and gardens. My mother always planted colorful boarder flowers along the walkway edges and in beds circling the giant box elder trees. Caught up in this addictive activity at a very young age I could be seen pushing the old one kid powered lawn mower. The expectation of 25 cents was my motive but the real reward was how beautiful the summer yard always looked.

My painting is called: That Summer Day. The effort was to depict the creative work that goes into such a planed spring planting. Attempting to duplicate such a botanical feast with oil paint in this artist’s opinion could only come close by pushing the color envelope. It is oil on panel 36 inch x 24 inch painted on location plein air. By working fast, wet into wet; with lots of paint mixed on a large glass palette, a one inch wide flat brush and palette knife; I believe I may have caught a glimpse of That Summer Day.

Owyhee Picture Jasper

Last week I took a few days off from work and home chores. Not having seized the opportunity to paint plein air for way to long I loaded the truck with provisions and took off. I met up with my friends Jed and Von. Their home is located 50 feet from the Snake River just across the Idaho border in Oregon. The next day Jed and I took off on an old dirt road heading toward the Owyhee River. I took over 150 images that day. We ended up in the most amazing spot on the shore of the Owyhee Reservoir. The waters are situated deep in the canyons volcanic formations and are a sight to behold. That evening we ate a great meal cooked on my dad’s old camp stove and waited for the evening colors to fall upon us. We turned in just as the almost full moon came over the ridge. The next morning as the sun crested the ridge tops I began to paint. The colors seamed to flow effortlessly from my pallet to my panel. Then I saw it! There is a gem stone found in the region know as Owyhee Picture Jasper and my pallet was looking curiously like this beautiful gem stone. Just like that precious gem this memory has become a precious gem. This painting will always fill my heart with memories of this beautiful place shared with a good friend.

Thanks Jed,