At top is my rendition of the gateway Rocks and Pikes Peak, and below is Thomas Moran's, Pikes Peak through the Gateway Rocks, ca. 1881. Moran is known to literally move mountians in his compositions in order to heighten the drama of the scene. I suppose I do as well, I tend to compress the images upward. When compared to the photograph of the actual site (below and taken from a slightly different vantage point), you can see that Moran has greatly diminished the central rock in the "gateway" and emphasized the white outcropping in the foreground. Scale is also an issue, with the tiny figures on the path dwarfed by the towering formations.
Moran made pencil and watercolor skethches when working in the field and then transformed them into finished oils back at his studio in New Jersey.
Moran made pencil and watercolor skethches when working in the field and then transformed them into finished oils back at his studio in New Jersey.
From the view I was working from, you cannot see the white stone formation, it is hidden behind the hill.
brilliant! i love the multiple frames of reference
ReplyDelete