I love using brightly colored paints and yet, I find that juxtaposing black against white has a richness and vividness too. Therefore, I find that my latest 16” by 20” acrylic painting on canvas wrap, “Roosting on the Range”, depicting a night scene and dwellings within a mountain range has its own vivacity. In this painting, I depict the tranquility of dwellings in nature and the power of the elements that dominate. Home is where you make it. Home is where you come to “roost”. Home is where among other things, you can find shelter.
Original painting available: https://ellenpalestrant.com/product/roosting-on-the-range/
Before I began to paint “Roosting on the Range”, I told myself to think only in black and white rather than incorporate bright colors into my vision. After all, many painters do choose to work mainly in black and white and in doing so, illuminate us with their conceptions, their subject matter, and their artistry. There are many film makers, too, who choose to work with the stark contrasts of black and white and gray scale tonalities and produce wonderfully emotive work.
There are just so many ways to approach art! Of course, individuals whose world view is purely in black and white with no shades of differences in between are plentiful. Despite being so dull, limited and in no way, nuanced, they have a need to force-feed others with opinions based on the strength of their own cast-in-stone convictions. One needs to resist the domination of the thoughts of others that crush one’s own inspirations from, or interpretations of, events.
Art is experiential. Art appreciation should be outside cultural domination or the news of the day. Relating to art should be a personal emotion, after all, paintings for example, capture your imagination not only because of the color palettes used by the artist, even though, they are significant, but because of their intrinsic aesthetic appeal to you, the viewer. And that, too, applies to purely back and white paintings. Think of the many wonderful paintings you have seen where the dominant colors are black and white that have transported you to places of knowledge and inspiration, visually and intellectually as well.
My latest black and white acrylic painting, “Roosting on the Range”, depicts both the powerful dominance of mountain ranges and the possibilities proffered by caverns for providing shelter from the elements or for opportunities to simply take the time to catch your breath, rest, or sleep. Birds, and animals need to congregate and “roost”, and so do we, sometimes alone, sometimes, together, and sometimes by simply seeking refuge in a personally nourishing, aesthetic moment.