Sculpted Trees

This summer I have been painting trees as if they were sculptures. I have become a connoisseur of tree shapes, enjoying their peculiar balance, distribution, density, regularity, orientation, leaf direction, contrast, transparency, etc. Every tree tells a story that I try to unfold in sculptural terms, trying to focus on larger shapes. Now I am doing the same with a complex forest scene.

To help with my vision I take stereo photos and use an eye trick to make 3-D images. Here is one you can try it with: It is hard to see what is going on in this pair of images to the right, but try to look past them- about 8 inches behind the screen. You will see 3 images. If you can focus your eyes on the one in the middle you'll see it is 3-D! Each eye sees is seeing its own perspective, giving the the scene shape and therefor making it clearer- (it helps if you're tired). There is a whole universe in there! Cool? There, now just paint what you see!

If that didn't work for you then try this: with this next pair <-, put your thumb under the middle of the photo, then, keeping your eyes focused on the nail, draw it slowly toward you. You'll notice the frame above the nail grow wider until it reaches the same dimension as the original photo image- at about 5 inches from the screen- and the image becomes stereo! If you can just relax your eyes and wait, you can slowly look into the scene! The thumbnail image isn't much bigger than, well, your thumbnail, but you can look way deep into it! ......PS: Don't try this technique with the other photos or the eyes will see the world in reverse and sparks will come out your ears...Which can be kind of cool too, but then be sure and remove any flammables!