Conceptual Design

      Southfork Storm Front

           In the Southfork Dragon Story it was posited that an interesting painting could
           be made from the photo with the changes noted below. It was decided to test
           out that analysis in a new painting.

                     (1) Make the center of interest the bend in the river in the middle distance,

                     (2) Extend the river’s sunlight relections a little farther around that bend,

                     (3) Perhaps introduce a bit more color and/or value change in that area.

                     (4) Add punch to the painting by making the left sky more dramatic,

                     (5) Slightly tone down the river highlights at the bottom,

                     (6) Carry a color (but not value) change farther left in the grass at the mid-bottom,

           For the most part, the above analysis was verified. Only a few changes were
           made to the "plan" in carrying out the painting and they are described below.
           This was an interesting and fun project and yielded decent results.

           The scene was shifted up slightly so there was more foreground and less sky.

           Albert Bierstadt's (American artist 1830-1902) treatment of storm skies was
           studied in several paintings and a similar approach applied here. The entire
           sky was made more dramatic with emphasis on the left side, as stated.

           In addition to toning down the foreground river highlights, their area was reduced.
           The value of the entire foreground was darkened instead of implementing a color
           change. Note: in the painting the right-side cliffs are darker than they appear
           in the photo made of the painting, more closely matching the original scene.