New Work: Softwestern View, oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches

Exhibiting: Saks Galleries, Denver, Colorado

To purchase

About this oil:

After recently doing a few bright skyscapes, I opted to try out something more subdued. Playing off my last evening sky oil, “Yellow to Orange Sunset,” I used the same composition with much softer tones. 

The challenge was to create a work that would be attractive in its own way without the dramatic color. This new set of color harmonies would demand a new approach.

As the painting evolved, I began to focus on movement as a substitute for high color. In this version, the hills are filled with patterns and behind the soft, multi-colored clouds are lighter cloud forms moving upward in the composition.

All of these things happened along the way, strategies to create a better work of art. The result is an interesting, colorful scene but more of a whisper this time.

New Work: Winter Overlook, oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches

Exhibiting: Saks Galleries, Denver, Colorado

To purchase

About this oil:

Sometimes, making a canvas is a pleasure and this is one of those pieces. I do my share of driving in the Colorado winters and my attention is continually drawn to the bright and dark patterns of the landscape.

The temptation is to replicate that idea but for this oil my intention was to create a compelling, snowy landscape with variations of blue. Instead of the high-contrast approach, everything is softened and atmospheric. The light on the snow is made purposely brighter in a couple of places and it carries the eye outward.

There is much to see compositionally and to create more interest, hundreds of trees are represented here in groups and individually, each represented to create a variety of looks and colors.

The trees, hills and snow make a calming combination of complexity and simplicity.

New Work: Lake Haze - Yellow, oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches

Exhibiting: Sorelle Gallery

To Purchase

About this oil:

As a colorist, sometimes I just want to use color in a simple and unbounded way. Since it’s currently fall, the yellow trees in abundance compelled me to begin a canvas with those trees as a focus.

The painting began with a much more complicated background of three, bright colored hills and they remained there as I worked out the lake patterns, increasing the complexity. 
After a few days of considering what to do next, a solution never presented itself. I was stuck.

The painting had real potential but it as if a key was stuck in the lock. That’s when I realized the original idea of simply expressing color had been overtaken by all of that detail in the background.

So the paints came out, brushes were loaded and the hills were merged into one mass. Detail was kept to a minimum and the background became a wall of light and subtly blended color.

Everything supports and enhances the yellow trees and the large band of color in the back adds drama and power to the work. It was an elegant and colorful solution.

Grateful Notices: Out of Steamboat, oil on canvas, 36 x 60 in.

Exhibited: Saks Galleries, Denver

My thanks to the Florida collectors that purchased this oil.

On the southern drive out of Steamboat Springs, CO, I have often caught the setting sun in a bank of clouds. The fields during the winter are covered in snow for months at a time and in high contrast. Because of the brightness, the snow doesn’t give up its color easily. Our mind says the snow is white but that’s not completely true. 

There are many subtitles in these snow-covered fields and they are all opportunities for color and light-play. I purposely brought the brightness of the snow down to allow a number of other less-white colors to come into play. Since the light intensity is down a bit, the colors are more apparent and together, they create texture and a flow in the topography. When a bright note is needed, it really shines.

This work has a variety of blues to keep things interesting and to create movement. The sun was situated in the painting at the very beginning, but as it happened at the very end, considerable changes were made to the sky and sun with quick, open brushwork – a surprise ending!

Because of its scale and color combinations, I actually had the sensation of cold when I was signing this one, a happy outcome.

New Work: Colors in the Breeze III, oil on panel, 30 x 30 inches

Oil on canvas, 30 x 30 inches  $4400 framed

Exhibiting Saks Galleries, Denver

To purchase 

 

About this oil:

I began a series of these 30 x 30 oils to explore pattern and color. Or here’s another reason, and it’s the core one, they are puzzles for my own entertainment. 

 

The compositions began as a series of vertical gestures for the tree placements and followed by those elegantly thin bits of horizontal vegetation. Everything is up for alteration and since there are too many trunks and leaves at the start, I use the background colors to paint out what I don’t need going forward. 

 

The painting is in complete flux with those shape changes and as it proceeds forward, a large range of colors come and go as well. Eventually, the painting begins to come together and develops a life of its own but it is far from finished. 

 

Changes in the light, color or contrast can quickly shift the look of the oil and it’s very enjoyable to experiment with the variables, making it better with every session on the easel. Gradually, the work comes together, nothing else is needed, and the result is something delightful that was seemingly made out of thin air. Or so it seems, but there is a breeze at play in this artwork and that thought led me to the title, Colors in the Breeze.

New Work: Yellow Winds II, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches

 

Exhibiting: Sorelle Gallery, Westport, Connecticut

$8950 framed   To purchase 

 

About this oil:

I set out to do an oil with an arrangement of yellows. Long ago, and with a lot of trial and error, I learned a very good way to highlight a color – that is, to use just about everything except that color!

 

That isn’t always true but that's how I proceeded to set up this oil. The brush marks are loose and the layers of yellow leaves seem to collect light. The variety of colors in the background keep the painting interesting and heighten the iridescent effect.

 

The pale sky at the top and glowing field at the bottom contain the scene, adding light and a delicate accent. After the oil was done, the foliage pattern suggested a mild wind coming through in a way that changed how the light reflected on the leaves. The title Yellow Wind seemed to hit just the right note.

Grateful Notices: Greens Moving Across, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches

Exhibited: Sorelle Gallery, Westport, Connecticut
 


My thanks to the purchaser of this oil.
 
About this oil:
This is an oil I started a number of years ago as a compositional sketch. The challenge was to make a line of green trees all the way across the canvas. It sounds simple enough, but once I began to move beyond the sketch, a number of problems began to present themselves and lacking any immediate solutions, I stored it away… for years.
 
For whatever the reason, I saw it in the racks recently and it became the most compelling piece for me to work on. Typically, I have 10 or more canvases in progress and this canvas was added to the mix as first in line.
 
The original composition had a lot of power so more was added with the bright, hot colors at the top and bottom, making the greens brighter. That is a good start, but it didn’t make the trees more interesting. After a lot of strokes, trials and errors, the trees began to take on a life of their own and I happily followed along.
 
By increasing the darks at the bottom and using lighter blue tones at the top, the trees began to take on considerably more mass, perfectly setting up the different greens as they flow across the space. 
 
The entire oil is alive because I allowed the painting to take the lead.

Winter Contrasts, pastel on Sanded Paper, 15.25" x 19"

Exhibited: Sorelle Gallery, Westport, Connecticut

 

Thank you to the collector that purchased this pastel.
 
In this work, I was attracted to the bands running horizontally in this composition. The colors are much exaggerated and that is what made this scene more interesting. 
 
The vertical trees provide a vertical and chromatic counterpoint, particularly where they break the plane of the bright colors in the back. 
 
This was an enjoyable puzzle to solve!

November Newlsetter

November News: I ran across an interesting bit of art information the other day. Turns out that Paul McCartney owns a Magritte painting and that it later became the inspiration for the Beatle's Apple logo. Here's a photo of Paul with the unframed Magritte on his wall (left of his head) followed by a photo of Magritte at his easel working while formally dressed as he always did. In an interview with Johan Ral in 1993, Paul McCartney stated: "There's a great story about that. I had this friend called Robert Fraser, who was a gallery owner in London. We used to hang out a lot. And I told him I really loved Magritte. We were discovering Magritte in the sixties, just through magazines and things. And we just loved his sense of humour. And when we heard that he was a very ordinary bloke who used to paint from nine to one o'clock, and with his bowler hat, it became even more intriguing." "Robert used to look around for pictures for me, because he knew I liked him. It was so cheap then, it's terrible to think how cheap they were. But anyway, we just loved him ... One day he brought this painting to my house. We were out in the garden, it was a summer's day. And he didn't want to disturb us, I think we were filming or something. So he left this picture of Magritte. It was an apple - and he just left it on the dining room table and he went. It just had written across it "Au revoir", on this beautiful green apple." "And I thought that was like a great thing to do. He knew I'd love it and he knew I'd want it and I'd pay him later. [...] So it was like wow! What a great conceptual thing to do, you know. And this big green apple, which I still have now, became the inspiration for the logo. And then we decided to cut it in half for the B-side!" What an intriguing story... Back in the studio, I want to express my sincere thanks to the many collectors that have placed my works in their collections and businesses. You all mean a great deal to me and it carries me forward. More paintings are emerging...  I am enjoying working with other artists in my small, 1-2 person private, in-person workshops as well as the continuing online mentoring sessions. My on-site art workshops at my Castle Rock, Colorado home will resume in the Spring of 2022 with dates to follow.  Wishing you all a beautiful Thanksgiving! Ken

New Works: YELLOW WINDS II Oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches Framed, $8950 In the studio More about this oil BLUE BREEZE Oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches Framed, $7000 In the studio More about this oil LAKE HAZE - YELLOW Oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches Framed, $5100 In the studio More about this oil Grateful Notices: YELLOW TO ORANGE SUNSET Oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches Exhibited: Saks Galleries, Denver, CO More about this oil SUMMER PATTERNS Oil on canvas, 40 X 60 in. Exhibited: Saks Galleries, Denver, CO More about this oil MEADOW VIEW, HIGH CONTRAST Oil on canvas, 36 X 60 inches More about this oil OUT OF STEAMBOAT Oil on canvas, 36 X 60 inches Exhibited: Saks Galleries, Denver, CO More about this oil SUN ON SNOW II Oil on panel, 24 x 24 inches Exhibited: Sorelle Gallery, Westport, Connecticut More about this oil RED AND YELLOW CONTRAST Oil on panel, 30 X 30 inches More about this oil THE LIGHT IN THE WORLD II Oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches More about this oil Available Works: BLUE WISH Oil on canvas, 36 x 60 inches Unframed, $5100 Exhibiting: Sorelle Gallery, Westport, Connecticut More about this oil HAZE IN THE DISTANCE Oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches Framed, $6650 Exhibiting: Arden’s Gallery, Houston, TX More about this oil   RED BORDERS Oil on panel, 24 x 24 inches Exhibiting: Sorelle Gallery, Westport, Connecticut Framed, $2600 More about this oil

Workshops and Mentoring Sessions: Take your work to new heights. My Workshops and Mentoring Sessions will focus on strategies for making better paintings, colorist tools, going to new places in your work and making fine art. We will be going deeper into making better and more appealing artworks with a variety of strategies and in some sessions, there will be time for Photoshop insights made easy. all workshop info Here's a video about what happens in the Group and Private Workshops

Ken Elliott American Landscapes coffee table book: This large coffee table book reprises over 25 years of my works in oil, pastel, monotype, etching and collage. Large, coffee table hardback version, 11 x 13 inches, 94 color pages with essays. Book and a signed giclee print of the cover image: $160 or just order the book for $125. eBook versions available for Amazon Kindle Fire®, Apple iOS devices, and macOS computers for $14.99.You can preview the complete book and how to order your electronic or hardback versions from my website.

View my newest artworks: FINDING THE LIGHT Oil on canvas 48 X 36 inches Framed, $6750 In the studio More about this oil This monthly newsletter is the best way to stay up to date with my new works and events. You can also follow me on Facebook and go more in depth with my blog. To view the total of my works in all media and in all my galleries, go to www.kenelliott.com Pass this onto a friend and they can sign up for this newsletter here. Thank you, Ken