Rufus Porter Style Wall Panel

Sofa Sized Wall Panel 

Landscape 

Rufus Porter Style 

Rufus Porter Wall Mural 

This little picture above is an actual Rufus Porter mural taken from a book that I have.  While I want to paint in his likeness, I don't want to completely copy him.  It has to look like a "Kolene" painting, I think.  

This is going to be a long post with a lot of pictures. 

Here was the first step in my painting which is literally about the size of a door frame.  

I started by painting it a soft yellow and pink tone.  You can see the pink along the horizon of the reference picture above. 

Then I put some mountains in on the horizon.  This is very roughly painted for now.  I am resisting the urge to pick up a little brush.  I have learned to lay it out first.  If I get caught up in the details, I will be stuck. 

Here you can see that I am starting to build some color.  Even as I type this, the painting is nowhere near done.  I am just building color at this time.  The further I go, the more I will think about adding elements that make up the composition. 

In this shot, I am starting to add some deeper tones at the base.  This will cause the other elements of the painting to form a cohesive look.  Everything starts to come together.  

This is an actual Rufus Porter wall mural.  I like the colors on this because I happen to have a grey living room.  I think the warm tones with the subtle pink hues will blend nicely.  

My first tree. 

I admit, I really didn't want to have the trunk of this tree as wide as it became.  I decided that with some bark added, it would take my eye away from the width.  I was right.  I like this.  

Here is my second tree.  It looks very basic, but art takes time. Each day I work on this painting, the colors will develop into an antique likeness of an 1810 landscape.  (Or so I hope.)

I found this on line.  I happen to like the colors of this fire board a great deal.  I confess, I don't remember who painted this.  I think it was R.Porter but I can't swear to it.  I love how the colors have come together on this board.  

Here is what I have so far completed.  Tomorrow, if there is time to work on this, I will add more detail.  

Do you remember these silhouettes I painted a few years ago?  I kept some of them and they hang around my home.  Some day I might sell a few of them, but for now, they are mine.  I happen to really love the bird one and plan to place some birds in the painting.  This is a detail that will be added much further in the process.  Every landscape has to have some birds.  

Enjoy! 

Kolene Spicher 

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Rufus Porter style landscape

Stylized Train Scene 

A reproduction from the mid 1800s ~ 1835-40

As I have said before, I really love the mid-19th century, specifically primitives.  

A little about  myself, I live near one of the biggest train yards in the north east. I love hearing the "clangs and bangs" of the cars as they hit one another, connecting one train to the next.  To me that is the noise of commerce and prosperity.  

Recently, I was looking thru one of my old folk art books and noticed a primitive painting of a train scene.  It was actually an old sign for a hotel, New Hampshire.  I LOVED IT and thought it would make a neat painting ~Kolene Style!! 

Things that stand out to me, the red!  Also, you should see all the wonderful cracks on this painting.  To me it looks like it was pealed from a wall.  This is what I call my RETRIEVED Wallpaper look.  

In the original painting from the 1830s, there was some very large prominent lettering across the bottom.  While I liked this, I didn't want to do an exact reproduction.  My trees and coloring are painted differently, yet it has the same look.  

The resolution is a little off on these.  I think it is because they were photographed in the evening.  This is always a bad thing.  The lighting is not great and making it difficult to get the clarity, even with an Apple IPHONE!! 

The frame material didn't arrive as of yet, so I cannot include what the finished product will look like. The frame has a burl look to it.  The piece will have a museum look (hopefully) when it is finished.  I plan on floating the mat.  

Before the Frame 

ENJOY

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