oil on panel
Jun 19, 2018
Margie Boynton on her father's ability to capture the effects of light:
My father’s primary objective was not to paint the object before him — the trees and buildings — but to capture the effect of the light within a scene. In the above painting of Stowe, VT, he paints the exact scene under two different light conditions, the shock of the light on a sunny day (left) and the muted colors of an overcast day (right). My father used 26 colors on his palette, arranged to correspond to the natural spectrum of light. He often likened these colors to the alphabet, and mastering the use of them, to learning a language. Through the constant, daily practice of his craft, he became so fluent he would paint without having to translate in his head. The paintings would flow through his brush, like the music from the instrument of an accomplished musician or the poet’s perfect choice of words to elicit a feeling. My father painted equally well in both oil and watercolor, two mediums requiring very different thought processes. This would be like the musician playing two different instruments, and playing them to the same degree of excellence.