Yellows Beyond the Water, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches
In the studio
 
It’s a common occurrence among artists that someone will ask you, “How long did it take to make that artwork?” It’s a good way to start a conversation since the person doing the asking can’t be expected to ask technical questions that are outside their experience. The best answer is that it varies.
 
In this case, my answer would be that it took me 3 years to the month to complete this one. There are other works in the studio that have been around for a similar length of time, but I’m not bothered by the slow progress. At any time in the studio I have over a dozen works in progress with each one moving at their own speed and path toward completion. Fortunately, most of the oils I do finish in 1-3 months.
 
Walking into the studio is like going to school every day where there are lots of problems to be solved and this painting was certainly full of problems. I keep a photo record how these works evolve and for this oil there were 6 different variations before this 7th idea provided a good solution.
 
This long view really appealed to me and as I continued to work on it, the more those yellows seeped in, eventually becoming the primary color. With that, the long view and all of the shapes and patterns are better revealed and glowing.