Mountain Galaxy. Painting #28. A Starry Night Study in Motion.
Date Painted: June 17, 2017
Size: 11 x 14 canvas
Mountain Galaxy is painting number 28—a small study born from preparation and curiosity.
This painting is a variation of Starry Galaxy. I created this as a smaller-scale study to prep for a live demo—part of a fundraiser for my office’s holiday celebration. I had a vision in mind but wanted to make sure I could pull it off from memory, so this became the practice field.
To get the night sky just right, I loosely followed along with a Twitch stream by Nic Hankins. His approach to layering colors for cosmic skies helped me lock in the structure I was aiming for. Once that atmosphere settled in, I broke off and let the rest evolve naturally.
Here are the colors and equipment used.
Colors
- Black Gesso
- Liquid Clear
- Alizarin Crimson
- Bright Red
- Cadmium Yellow
- Dark Sienna
- Indian Yellow
- Midnight Black
- Phthalo Blue
- Phthalo Green
- Prussian Blue
- Sap Green
- Titanium Hwite
- Yellow Ochre
- Van Dyke Brown
Equipment
- Black Canvas (optional if you don’t want to use the black gesso)
- 2 Inch Brush
- 1 Inch Brush
- #6 Fan Brush
- Large Palette Knife
- Script Liner Brush
Notes from the Easel
I’m really pleased with how this one came together—especially the mountain, which has a soft luminosity I’ve been working to capture in this series. The only part I struggled with was the star field; I still hadn’t completely nailed the splatter technique, but the texture adds something raw and energetic.
Sometimes a “prep piece” surprises you by becoming its own moment. That was the case here. Mountain Galaxy helped me lock in the composition and color ideas I needed, and ultimately found a home of its own—it sold not long after I shared it to social media.
Whether you’re into celestial paintings, mountain landscapes, or just following along on the journey of an oil painter learning on the fly—I hope this one speaks to you.
If you enjoyed my Mountain Galaxy painting, feel free to poke around the rest of the blog—there’s more behind-the-scenes process, personal reflections, and finished work sprinkled throughout. You can also browse the full gallery of past paintings. My art store is in the middle of a renovation so if you’d like to give my art a new home, check out my Etsy shop. Itching for more day-to-day updates and works-in-progress catch all that and more across my socials.
Have questions about my process or this piece? I’d love to chat. Comment below or find me all over the different social platforms.
Happy Painting, and thanks for being here.