Aaron Holland Fine Art

This is an imaginary scene that takes place in Whitefish Dunes State Park, overlooking Lake Michigan. By imaginary, I mean to say that it was created, and the models were posed, specifically for this painting; to illustrate a concept.

(detail)-W.C. on Rag- 18x24"- HOLLAND

Spring looks warm, but feels cold. My hands were pretty cold when I finished the picture this morning. I dressed for a sunny, spring day...hmmm... that was a bit optomistic I think, in hindsight (temp= 42 degrees F.) At least it wasn't windy!

At any rate it is always a pleasure to get outside and soak up the sun, and at least it was sunny. We have been known to go to a local cafe nearby and have a hot cup of coffee and a delicious meal afterwards- it is a reward! Today was no different.

For the dedicated landscape painter- one must be able to draw trees.

There are very few scenes in the landscapes that do not have trees in them... For that reason I did this small study of a Conifer.

The goal was to render the tree carefully and paint it swiftly ("painterly"). and also to convey a light-source, which is moving from right to left across the tree.

The foreground was unimportant to me in this sketch, so the golden-colored canvas was simply left unworked.

PS- The saying about "Moving Mountains" is especially applicable to the artist. This painting was painted on a busy street with many buildings all around, but I felt very satisfied at being able to mightily move them out of my picture! HA!

Nature's impressions are fleeting, so it is a good idea to know what the end result of the painting is going to look like before starting!

A great feature of plein air painting is that these quick, little studies can be brought back into the studio to be used as a reference for larger paintings. Photography can be an art form in and of itself, and can be a useful tool to the artist, but the "Impressionist" is often better served by relying on a study like this and memories about the place; The painting will reflect more clearly what is important, and will help strengthen skills of observation.

Good Friday is generally believed to be a corruption of the words "God's Friday".

On Maundy Thursday Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples. On Friday he was captured and taken to be tortured. Then He was crucified...