In the Best Light

Cheri Christensen concentrates on value, temperature and color relationships in her animal art

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UNITED STATES

My paintings, no matter the subject matter, are about color and the path of light. Most people know me for my backlit animal paintings. My grandfather was a cattle rancher, and I grew up in a small town surrounded by dairy farms. Both had a big influence on my life and my artwork. No matter the subject matter, I try to find the path of light, to lead the viewer into my paintings and into my world. I believe the artist's job is to simplify the subject matter so the viewer can see what we are experiencing and perhaps bring their own experience into the painting.

Graceful Elegance, oil on board, 24 x 18" (60 x 45 cm) Graceful Elegance was inspired by a friend's photo of a swan. It is painted both in brush and palette knife. I've used the brush for the swan and a palette knife and brush for the water. I did some dry brush dragging in the water too, to help it read. I used the grass to the right to lead your eye into the swan and the path of light. My eye goes up its neck to the head, which is the focal point. Then the eye travels down the swan to the water and back around. I've used the elements of the light and reflection on the water to keep the viewers' attention in the painting.

The play of warm and cool colors on the form excites me. I want the viewer to be dazzled by this. Not only seeing the path of light, but having it play against the warm and cool colors in the shadows too. I like to create the drama of the painting with the shadows, having more shadow than light. That way when I place the path of light on the form, it dances across it, leading you in. Some artists overlook shadows, or they see them as gray, when there really is a lot of color happening there. I don't want to miss it!