Friday, July 24, 2009

Kokopelli With Staff

Those of you who follow my blog may recognize the reference photo for this painting from below. This is the Kokopelli with a staff that I hiked up to near Deming, NM. I took so many petroglyph photos at this site, but this is my fav...a wonderful, huge Kokopelli with a staff instead of a flute. I took this with my longest camera lens since by the time I found it, it was higher than I had the strength to climb to get closer, and I like the look of him on this pile of large boulders anyway from this angle.

I tried to incorporate some compositional tips to make this read well, such as having one big boulder and a dead tree branch pointing to the center of the photo and having the Kokopelli in a "sweet spot". It was so hot at the time we found him that I wanted that to show in these rocks, also.

5 comments:

RH Carpenter said...

Nice job on this, Susan. Including the surrounding green foliage draws our eye right there to Kokopelli. Nice rocks, too!

Barb Sailor said...

Susan, I am so impressed with this painting. Your handling of the rocks is excellent..your shadows are great. The foliage above the rocks is very realistically painted - all in all - a great job.

Watercolors by Susan Roper said...

Thanks, Ladies...I knew I had to paint this one the second I took the photo(s). I combined a few angles to get this in the composition I wanted it to have. I was pleased with the rocks, also...rocks I usually struggle mightily with them, but these cooperated quite nicely. I think rocks are one thing where one must paint the shapes of the shadows more than the objects, it just works better that way.

CHummelKornell said...

Beautifully executed. You are a master with landscapes. Truly a beautiful painting.

Watercolors by Susan Roper said...

Thanks, Connie! I don't know what it is about painting landscapes, but that has been my fav, from when I first picked up a paint brush. Any landscapes we see when we are driving down a mountain highway I am immediately drawn to their composition, colors (identified in my mind by their counterpart w/c paint colors!), etc. I will never look at scenic vistas the same again, I am ruined forever!