Phases of Day

Jeff Ripple was the Grand Prize award winner in International Artist magazine’s Challenge No. 124, Landscapes.

Self-trained oil painter Jeff Ripple is dedicated to a poetic realism in landscape painting that, for him, combines an accurate depiction of a scene infused by his emotional response to the light and atmosphere on that landscape. His paintings are carefully planned—with sketches and studies conducted in plein air that inform studio work—and a treatment of light and atmosphere reminiscent of 19th-century artists working in the Hudson River School and luminist traditions. And while he draws continuous inspiration from nature, many of Ripple’s studio paintings come from his imagination, amalgamations of the artist’s experiences, contemplations and wonder of the world around him. Looking North from Moraine Park, Rocky Mountains, oil on gessoed hardboard, 14 x 18"

The Waccasassa Under Moonlight, oil on gessoed hardboard, 30 x 48"

Both Skydance and The Moment after Sunset, Blue Ridge Mountains are sunset scenes, capturing the skies in brilliant shades of warm golds, honeys and pinks. “Skydance is a celebration of the Lowcountry winter sky at sunset,” he says. “I really wanted to convey the sense of the sky exploding outward from the sun over the marsh, which is what it feels like standing alone in the vast expanse.” The Moment after Sunset, Blue Ridge Mountains captures a day spent exploring the Appalachian Mountains. Ripple explains, “A grisaille was important in this painting because it allowed me to establish the values within the mountains while also making adjustments to the composition. Sometimes a painting will be fine as a small drawing or color study but then loses something when scaled up to a larger work. I added the cliff and the raven in the lower right corner to create an element of story I felt was needed in an otherwise quiet painting celebrating the end of a day in the Appalachians.”Skydance, oil on gessoed hardboard, 24 x 36"

Daybreak over the Waccasassa River, oil on linen mounted on board, 24 x 36"

A depiction of the artist’s favorite river, a relatively small nearly 30-mile stretch of water moving through Florida, Daybreak over the Waccasassa River depicts the golden light of morning. “This is a painting from my imagination depicting a primeval view of my favorite river. In the painting, light from the sunrise illuminates approaching clouds from thunderstorms that rake the coast virtually every summer morning. Ospreys wheel and a flock of egrets head for morning feeding grounds,” Ripple says. The Moment after Sunset, Blue Ridge Mountains, oil on gessoed hardboard, 18 x 36"

Hunting Island Sunset Study, oil on gessoed hardboard, 12 x 16"

Another time of day entirely, Ripple’s The Waccasassa Under Moonlight takes us to that very river at nightfall. He says, “This is a painting from imagination and memory, bits and pieces of which came from sketches and small paintings I did from a canoe on the Waccasassa River...I love paddling at night, often under full moonlight, and this scene is a manifestation of many nighttime experiences, including those things that go bump in the night.”Just a Wild and Crazy Sky, oil on gessoed hardboard, 16 x 20"