Image of the Day, May 1, 2012

“…always a new horizon—but always back to the deserts of America.” - Ed Ainsworth writing about the artist Don Perceval

Don Perceval was born in England in 1908, but moved to California with his family when he was young. He studied at the Chouinard Art School and illustrated his first book at age 19. He made numerous trips to the desert to paint and ultimately, the Hopi made him a member of their tribe in 1952. Among his illustration commissions was the work he did for the “Santa Fe Magazine,” published by the Santa Fe Railroad.

Hopiland, n.d., tempera on paper, 22 x 16 in. Credit: Webposters Arizona, n.d., tempera on paper, 22 x 16 in. Credit: VanSabbenAuctions

Image of the Day, April 29, 2012

By Donna Poutlon

“I decided very early that I would be an American painter. I travelled the county over, and the West appealed to me. There is no phase of landscape in which we are not richer, more varied and interesting… ” – Thomas Moran

Thomas Moran, watercolor. Credit: Painters of Utah's Canyons and Deserts.Traveling with John Wesley Powell during the summer of 1873, Thomas Moran painted Colburn’s Butte. Powell often named lakes and mountains after people on his expeditions. He named the peak after J.E. Colburn a writer for the New York Times who was travelling with the survey expedition to record his impressions of the southwest for a chapter in William Cullen Bryan’s Picturesque American.

Photograph of a Paiute Youth, Thomas Moran, and J.E. Colburn, 1873. Credit: Painters of Utah's Canyons and Deserts.

Image of the Day, March 5, 2012

© Copyright 2011. Bill Schenck. All Right Reserved. Photograph, Untitled CO-060, BW, December 2008. Credit: schencksouthwest.com“What has remained constant throughout Schenck’s career is his individuality in dealing with the subject matter of the west. Using the artistic formula of classic western film direction and the photographically reliant systems of contemporary art, he has bridged two genres that resonate with the American experience.”

© Copyright 2011. Bill Schenck. All Right Reserved. Photograph, Untitled CO-070, Color, August 2008. Credit: schencksouthwest.com“Rather than standing as an outside observer to the realities and myths of the west, Schenck is a part of the scene, figuratively and literally. From early depictions of cinematic cowboys to real-life cowboys and cowgirls to poetic reveries about the Native American existence in the Southwest, Schenck melds the real with the imagined, autobiography with fantasy.” - Julie Sasse, Chief Curator and Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Tucson Museum of Art

Image of the Day, March 1, 2012

By Donna Poulton

Jimmy Swinnerton painted in every kind of weather, the most dramatic being when dark-clouded thunderstorms loomed over the large buttes.  In Desert Clouds, Utah, the vertically developed cumulus clouds, common in the West during hot summer months, seem to emerge audaciously from terra firma.  In reality, cumulus clouds can hover as low as 300 feet above the desert landscape.

James Guilford Swinnerton, Desert Clouds, Utah, 1940s, oil on canvas, 22 x 34 in. Credit: Painters of Utah’s Canyons and Deserts“I don’t use many colors,” Jimmy volunteers. “Two blues, one green, blue black, several reds—I’m finding all the time that it’s how you use them, not the number involved.  Light is superimposed on darkness.  You can notice that as the day grows long.  There are so many parts to a landscape that attention must be paid to all of them.  The clouds should float, instead of looking like rocks.  The sky should be air, not blue paint…” - Jimmy Swinnerton, from Painters of the Desert by Ed Ainsworth

Other Posts on Jimmy Swinnerton:

Painting of the Day, October 23, 2011

Painting of the Day, January 15, 2012

By Donna Poulton

“My watercolor process involves painting hundreds of abstract shapes, all with hard edges, 
within a representational framework. I paint layer over layer, floating pure color into clear washes, letting the colors blend visually on the paper. I then outline, with India ink, every shape I've just painted. This unifies 
the painting, makes it clean, and creates the effect of looking upon the scene in high-definition, 
as if you could see everything perfectly.” — Jonathan Frank

Frank’s painting titled From the Beginning is in the newly released book, Art Journey America Landscapes: 89 Painters 

Jonathan Frank, From the Beginning, Watercolor, 21-1/2 x 25-1/2 in. Credit: Courtesy of Jonathan FrankJonathan Frank, Soaring, watercolor, 21-1/2 x 14-1/2 in. Credit: Courtesy of Jonathan Fran