Montana Artworking by Cindy Betka

To me every piece of artwork I care to create is a challenge. There is always something not quite right with it. I finish a piece and keep going back to it to add this or that or just sand it down to begin again. I doubt if I will really get to that place of satisfaction in my work. The only satisfaction I find is in God's creations as I walk through the beautiful snow covered forest. But, as I try to bring these imagines alive on canvas I continue to struggle. My sister, who is working in pastel and acrylics came up with a challenge for the two of us to share.  The potential work seemed so simple. Simple; was the challenge in and of itself. So, we embarked on painting in our separate studios miles apart. I have not seen my sister's results yet; can't wait to see her marvelous approach. My first attempt is not worth showing. I began again with more composition thumbnails and then building texture on the canvas. This work and the other shown below, has moved my style into a...

Last night we had about 8-10 inches. Now I can begin to think about painting that snow. Just something moody about painting the grey sky and shades of white covering the ground. Monet captured it well, I placed a few of his painting below. Here are some photos I took this morning.

Start with your center of interest and really nail it. Work out from there blocking in the largest shapes first. This I found to be the best approach especially out in the field, "alla prima". The sky went from a few clouds to over casted in a short period of time. Here I did some pencil sketches to get an idea of compositions. Then I went to water color starting with the center of interest knowing what my composition was going to be. Making color notes and photos for reference, I will go from here into the studio to work in oil paints.

Edges come in all the variations in between sharp and blurry.  Most of the edges fall somewhere in that intermediate range of soft and hard. They are the boundaries of shapes. The way the light reflects off the shapes defines its edge.  Our eyes adjust to objects near and far to be equally in focus. So then, our minds impression is everything to be equally clear and sharp. Using edges effectively will help communicate the sense of depth. When looking at your center of interest, that is where you want to apply your hardest, strongest edge. This stroke should be deliberate and precise. Try not to weaken it with many additional strokes. Too many soft edges can make a painting just look blurry where you cannot focus on anything. While manipulating edges, avoid using too thick of paint until the final stages. The key is variation while leading the viewer through the painting to the center of interest. Morning Fuzz 8" X 8" Take Heart 8" X 7" ...

There are 10 fires going on in Montana. One of the largest is just west of us, luckily far enough west by many miles. So, the smoke has been awful. Relief last night came when a violent thunderstorm came through. The cold and rain slowed down the fire a bit. There was some real damage elsewhere, 2 towns southeast had power out, still out and damage to homes and historic buildings. Gallatin County had millions of dollars of crop damage, the worst they have seen. Our little weather station we have on the back corner, measured 1.27 inches of rain downpour as a max at 12:00am. Storm over crops 'Moose Meadows' fire Then there is the opportunity to paint some of these atmospheric conditions. I set up my smaller easel next to the windows to paint. I started with sketches as I see nice 'moody' lighting. Here is one such triad composite. The bottom sketch has just the block in; I plan to return to it next opportunity. These take just about 30 minutes plus more as...

I might have managed to pull it off with the fog effect. Between my mental notes, quick oil studies and photo taking; the painting didn't come out half bad. It is at the stage of putting it aside for a while, only to go back to it later. This is the same for the sunset painting. We had fog just a few days ago after a heavy evening rain. The day before I set up my easel to look out over the divide. On the canvas I set up so far I have 2 oil studies completed. There is room for a 3rd study on the same canvas. After I completed the 3rd I will share on a blog post. Walk in the Light 18" X 24' Find Grace 16" X 20"

I am excited to announce that these 4 paintings were accepted into the Lewistown Art Center Exhibition August 16 - Sept. 28, 2013. Gentle Whisper 16" X 16" Refuge 24" X 18" Living Water 12" X 16" Pastel Sky 16" X 20" The painting below will be in their gift shop. Harvest of Peace 11" X 14" Harvest of peace, Hebrews 12:11