Day ThirtyTwo: Passing Shower by Thomas Moran
Hello and welcome to day 32 of 100 days of tonalism.
Today's study is of Passing Shower' by Thomas Moran.
Thomas Moran was a Luminist, a Hudson River School artist and was also a member of the Rocky Mountain School. Thomas Moran transcended all of these labels and is one of the greatest painters who has ever lived. I've had the good fortune of seeing his work in person, it glows and pulsates with energy.
Of all the different types of painter that Thomas Moran was considered to be, Tonalist would not be chief among them. He lived and worked through the entire period that encapsulated Tonalism in the 19th and 20th centuries. I selected 'Passing Shower' for a study because I felt it evidenced many strong tonal tendencies.
I've been speaking for the last few blog posts about the various aspects of tonalism that differentiated it from the schools of painting that came before and after.
The selection of subject matter is key in defining if a painting is Tonalist or not. Thomas Moran was quite famous for painting huge expansive vistas that inspired a sense of awe in the viewer. He is one of the best at doing this type of painting.
Tonalism however, is more about portraying an intimate and subdued approach to the landscape. Good subjects for a Tonalist painting might be a vacant lot with some trees in it or an abandoned field, subjects that people see all of the time in their daily lives. These types of scenes can be easily grasped and that people can see themselves occupying them.
I've always been attracted to this particular aspect of tonalism, probably because of its great accessibility. Not all of us can travel to the Rocky Mountains or the Grand Canyon. While it is certainly valuable to paint subjects like those in an expansive way, there is also much to be said for finding beauty and poetry in the landscape that surrounds us locally.
Sometimes I wonder if I was a Tonalist painter in a past life, because I resonate so deeply with all of the myriad aspects of this style of painting. I was not very aware of tonalism until later in my life but as soon as I came across it, I knew that this was the way that I wanted to paint, that this was the manner of depicting the landscape that resonated with me at the deepest soul level.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Passing Shower' by Thomas Moran, I'm very happy with the way this study turned out. I was keen to do it after finding the initial reference for this painting in my search for subject matter. It is quite unlike most Thomas Moran paintings I've seen. It is really just a painting of a field with a little pond in it and a big sky full of clouds.
My study is quite dynamic and represents the painting by Thomas Moran well. I'm pleased with the way the greens offset the grays and blues of the sky. There's not that many Thomas Moran paintings that would work in the series like this but this one feels very appropriate. I am glad to have executed the study and I learned a lot.
To see more of my work, visit my site here.
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| Painted after - Passing Shower by Thomas Moran, Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x7, Oil on wood panel |
Today's study is of Passing Shower' by Thomas Moran.
Thomas Moran was a Luminist, a Hudson River School artist and was also a member of the Rocky Mountain School. Thomas Moran transcended all of these labels and is one of the greatest painters who has ever lived. I've had the good fortune of seeing his work in person, it glows and pulsates with energy.
Of all the different types of painter that Thomas Moran was considered to be, Tonalist would not be chief among them. He lived and worked through the entire period that encapsulated Tonalism in the 19th and 20th centuries. I selected 'Passing Shower' for a study because I felt it evidenced many strong tonal tendencies.
I've been speaking for the last few blog posts about the various aspects of tonalism that differentiated it from the schools of painting that came before and after.
The selection of subject matter is key in defining if a painting is Tonalist or not. Thomas Moran was quite famous for painting huge expansive vistas that inspired a sense of awe in the viewer. He is one of the best at doing this type of painting.
Tonalism however, is more about portraying an intimate and subdued approach to the landscape. Good subjects for a Tonalist painting might be a vacant lot with some trees in it or an abandoned field, subjects that people see all of the time in their daily lives. These types of scenes can be easily grasped and that people can see themselves occupying them.
I've always been attracted to this particular aspect of tonalism, probably because of its great accessibility. Not all of us can travel to the Rocky Mountains or the Grand Canyon. While it is certainly valuable to paint subjects like those in an expansive way, there is also much to be said for finding beauty and poetry in the landscape that surrounds us locally.
Sometimes I wonder if I was a Tonalist painter in a past life, because I resonate so deeply with all of the myriad aspects of this style of painting. I was not very aware of tonalism until later in my life but as soon as I came across it, I knew that this was the way that I wanted to paint, that this was the manner of depicting the landscape that resonated with me at the deepest soul level.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Passing Shower' by Thomas Moran, I'm very happy with the way this study turned out. I was keen to do it after finding the initial reference for this painting in my search for subject matter. It is quite unlike most Thomas Moran paintings I've seen. It is really just a painting of a field with a little pond in it and a big sky full of clouds.
My study is quite dynamic and represents the painting by Thomas Moran well. I'm pleased with the way the greens offset the grays and blues of the sky. There's not that many Thomas Moran paintings that would work in the series like this but this one feels very appropriate. I am glad to have executed the study and I learned a lot.
To see more of my work, visit my site here.
 |
| Original painting, Passing Shower by Thomas Moran |