This is A Molting Earth concept I had to get out of my head quickly. The world is clearly in a state of drastic change, and we don’t quite know what’s beneath it all. With that, we as individuals have an opportunity to direct that change toward something good. That doesn’t mean drop everything and go to the streets, but but maintain a strong sense of community, be there for the people you care the most, and even those who you haven’t connected with in awhile. Support your local businesses and hold on to your courage. In desperate times, let good prevail, and it will.
Early this morning I added some of the last few strokes to this this vivid yet dark painting; a winter moonlit landscape, with a cabin nestled in the mid-ground. It’s inspired by a photo I took in February and I had the visual for this piece in my head for a couple of weeks before finally getting to work on the blank canvas. From the start, I was excited to make it happen, and knew I had to create a time lapse of the entire process. My paintings always have personally surprising results, so I’m happy to have finally made a video showing each stage it went through.
See the time lapse video down below!
The final piece you see here is different from the original idea that was in my head. My original vision for it leaned more toward a realistic, clean, bright and blue landscape. These thoughts even had the inclusion of a green road sign and telephone wires. That was true because it is based on a photo I took on a frigid early winter morning. So I suppose that’s where I should start; the night before I took this photo of the full moon with “Mac Miller Rd” as the focal point.
Mac Miller Rd
My original idea can be seen early on in the video, but a painting will take its course. This isn’t something I could have envisioned beforehand, but there are certain techniques ended up using that I’ve used in paintings years ago, so it was nice to revisit those.
The night before I took this photo, I was scrolling through the Instagram “explore” page. Being the fan of Mac Miller that I am, the page was showing images that were related to him. Among these photos were mostly just regular photos of Mac with some concert photos and fan art in the mix. I happened to come across an old summertime photo of this Mac Miller Road sign posted on one of the many Mac Miller fan pages, and with the road being nearby, it was exciting to see. This sign has been replaced a few times over the years and along with it being winter, I posted a comment saying something along the lines of, “Anybody want me to take an updated pic tomorrow morning?”
A few people responded positively, saying I should do it. I was pretty much already set on it anyway with there being a full moon that morning I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. It was nice to have these other fans wanting to see it happen though. Posting that comment set me on an early morning mission. I couldn’t let them down!
The next morning I woke at about 4am and dressed in many layers to shield myself from that full moon February chill. I gathered my gear and headed out toward the road. As soon as the sign was in sight, so was the moon, full and bright. I pulled onto the road and snapped a couple of photos. I didn’t really take my time as it was extremely cold, and I knew there were other photos of the moon that I wanted to take that morning. That was that and I drove along toward some possibly promising locations to photograph the moon before it set behind the ridge.
A photo from a little later that morning. I had to book it 200 paces through deep snow to capture the moon before it went behind the ridge. Not easy.
I was also in contact with my friend Alex that morning, with herself also being on a moon photo mission. At this point, the moon was out of sight, and the sun was beginning to cast beautifully saturated pink light onto Mt. Mansfield. We made plans to join up and and ride together to capture some more morning light. I first had to turn on the pizza ovens at work, and then we were off!
It was a really wonderful morning, despite the cold. Both good company and good light made it! I’m always glad to get up before sunrise to see what kind of images I can capture when everybody else is asleep.
About six weeks later, I was getting inspired to paint again. The last two larger paintings I made did not end so well. I ran into challenges, got discouraged and let them sit for so long that I was not at all inspired to work on them any longer. One was a wavy colorful and 3D grid style mountain that I like to make, and the other was based on a photo I took at night in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Ultimately I tore up both canvases and threw them out. Each painting probably had 15-20 hours put into it.
For reasons like this, it can be a little overwhelming to begin a new painting, but with this one I was feeling more confident. There can be times where you are halfway through and it may not be going so well, though it’s important to press on and overcome these challenges.
That brings me to the case of this painting; how it came to be and all that went in to it. It began with the original photograph that I essentially made myself accountable to rise early and take. The inspiration behind this photograph is a young musical artist whose talent and openness with life has inspired so many people and helped them feel more at ease by listening to his songs. He poured out his feelings through his music which allowed his listeners to connect with him on another level. Mac Miller rose to stardom fairly quickly, and he evolved rapidly in the time that he was alive and active in the music scene. He started young and ended young, but he put a lot of incredibly creative music into the world during this span of time. He was relatable and somebody your own age that you could look up to.
Mac Miller has been an inspiration to many for his hard work; his willingness to dedicate countless hours to his craft. I believe he positively impacted many young people’s lives with his positive energy. He plays a big part in why I was so inspired to create and finish this painting, despite some of the challenges that arose. It took many turns and brush strokes on top of brush strokes, even some scraping away. I enjoyed every minute of it as I added more and more color to the canvas in pursuit of completion. I believe the real turning point of the painting where I knew how I was to press on, was when I began making the purple mountains in a more weaving and striated style. This led me to redo the tree line in the same style (except vertically) which reignited my motivation to finish. Though even with that, motivation can become still.
This past weekend, I talked to my high school art teacher Sabine on the phone. We caught up, discussed art much of the time. By the end of the call, she told me she could offer any critique on my work if I ever needed it. It turns out I did need it, because I was at a point in the painting where I knew it wasn’t finished, but I wasn’t sure of the best way to go forward with it. I kept thinking, “Should I try adding the sign again, or something else?” I didn’t want to ruin it, especially with being so far along.
I decided to send her a message, asking if she was still willing to offer advice. She agreed so I told her what was troubling me with it. She provided me with her insight and we went back and forth a little bit. This turned out to help a lot, because the next time I picked up the brush I knew exactly what to do. The main thing was to darken some areas of the painting in order to have the moon be more distinguishable and have the scene appear more nightly. I was super satisfied with the way this made the painting look. and the fact that it simply only took one extra color was an added bonus.
As you’ll see in the video, I redid many parts of the painting, multiple times. This is how it can go, and that’s okay as long as it’s still fun, which is was. I’ll admit there were times were it was slightly frustrating, but overall I had a really great time adding color and strokes to this canvas, learning as I went along on how to make all come together.
We won’t be here forever, we don’t know how long we’ve got. Do what speaks to you and follow your own intuition. Put in the effort that you need to succeed and don’t be distracted by media companies that strive off your attention. You have an innate desire to be more and achieve more, so allow yourself to pursue these daydreams. Overcome the barrier which inhibits you in your mind, as that’s where life’s greatest fulfillment can come. Hold off on gratification that stems from instantaneous actions and instead work toward something greater. Allow yourself to fail, if time and time again. Failure is growth and growth is life. You are capable.
art.of.a.rock 