Title - see below Original oil painting by Linda Besse 14" X 18"   Image above is a scan of the original painting     Sometimes I have a title of a painting before I start. There are paintings in which a title develops while I paint. Then, there are paintings in which the title eludes me, briefly.   I wanted a title which reflected a sense of place and maybe the presence of the Adele penguins.  So many titles were rejected. Way Down South felt confusing as that is also used for the southern part of the U.S.  I considered Way Cool but it didn't resonate the ..read more

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 It is easy to think of Antarctica as lots of white and then throw in the blue water. Yup, two tubes of paint. But the colors of the ice on a sunny day are so magnificent they can take your breath away.   One of the dangers in painting them is relying solely on one's reference photos. A photo sees the surface but our eyes see through the surface. I like to memorize the colors I see. It even helps to write them down shortly afterwards. I find this also particularly helpful for northern lights for which I don't have adequate nighttime camera equipment. On the main block I still have ..read more

    I was fortunate to have a beautiful scene to work with. While my photos of it might have been picture perfect they were not painting-perfect. The mid mini-berg in the middle of the right edge extended to the large blocks on the left. This visually cut off the back landscape from the foreground. So, I made a gap. I cropped the right side of the scene which eliminated one of the background mountains. I didn't feel the painting needed it. The main block was heftier and was more rounded which gave it a ball-like appearance. This did not seem to fit the angled stratified appearance o ..read more

 One of the best trips I have taken was to Antarctica. After a rolling crossing of the Drake Passage with seas up to 48 feet and wind gusts up to 108 knots, our arrival at the continent was greeted by clear skies and crystal water. The light was the purest I have ever seen with a clarity that is hard to describe. I want this painting to imbue a sense of place and the beauty of this continent. For this piece I am doing something different in the preparation. In my paintings I use a light turpentine wash with a touch of yellow ochre over my drawing. To try and capture the unique light in An ..read more

  Forever Wild  24" X 36" Original oil by Linda Besse     The image above is from a professional scan of the painting.     Thanks for following along on the creation of this piece.  Up next is a completely different wild part of the world.           ..read more

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 Lest you think I am talking about a beer drink with pale ale and stout, in this case I am talking about the horse coloring. However, the colors are not that simple. Not only will there be black and tan, but also gray, rust red, orangey red, lavender, purple, deep browns, and bright yellows ..read more

 After all the hours painting the background, will the horse work? Can I pull off enough interest in him that he is not overshadowed by the landscape?   If these seem like questions which should be answered before beginning, sometimes on a challenging piece when you are taking a risk, painting something new or outside your comfort zone, you just don't know if the painting will say what you are trying to communicate until you paint it. My current palette is a-jumble with colors, hardly a spot to spare. I put it aside and grab a fresh palette pack for mixing the colors of the horse ..read more

    The lowest section of the painting is blocked in waiting for the completion of the horse. I knew I wanted a rich blue for the very bottom. It gives a feeling of a near shadow and is a darker version of the blue shadow under the rightmost cliffs.  As for the the lighter lower section, my first go was too pink/peach. After I added some raw sienna and golden earth ochre the section was too dark. I lightened it with broad strokes giving a textured look to this base layer.  Once the horse is done, I'll add some detailed flowers and other vegetation in both the lighter tan a ..read more