Anderson Dam, Idaho. Painting #96. Once the Tallest Dam in the World
Date Painted: April 23, 2020
Size: 18 x 24 stretched canvas
Anderson Ranch Dam is an earth rockfill type dam on the South Fork of the Boise River. When completed in 1950, Anderson Ranch was the tallest dam of its type in the world.[3] Its primary purpose is to provide irrigation water for agriculture, with a secondary purpose of hydroelectric power.
Let’s Get Started
This post is about my painting of Anderson Dam. First, I’ll talk about the inspiration for this painting. When I talk about inspiration in this blog, it will normally be why I chose a certain subject or Bob Ross or other artist tutorial to follow. Then, I will go over the colors and equipment I used and that you will need if you want to try your hand at it or something similar. Next, I will expound a bit about my process. Finally, I’ll wrap up with some lessons that I learned from painting this picture and things I could have done better or wished I had known. So join me on this trip down memory lane as I recap my 96th painting.
The Inspiration for Anderson Dam
Anderson Dam was a commission from someone who I used to work with. I worked with him when I first started painting and he’s liked my stuff ever since. In fact I gave him my third ever painting. He moved to Idaho and one of his favorite places to take the family was Anderson Dam near Boise. He wanted a painting in my black and white style. I was happy to oblige. I wanted to do it in oil but I don’t have enough black oil paint.
Materials Needed
Mediums
Colors
Equipment
You’ll never believe what you need to paint something like this. You don’t need much at all. I simply used
A large foam brush
The large stiff bristle brush and some flat and angled brushes from this multi brush pack
The Round Brush from a Crayola brush pack.
Techniques
Acrylics can be frustrating especially when it comes to painting large areas and blending. However, a happy accident resulting from that is this unique dramatic looking sky. I can’t explain how I did it exactly other than I used the gessos mixed because they are a bit thinner than the acrylic paint. The sky just sort of unfolded the way it did. I just made sure to taper the value off as I got lower down the canvas. I used a large foam brush with varying values. One reason it did that is because it’s a large surface and acrylics dry so fast. There’s no medium such as liquid white to help blend the color and lighten it towards the horizon. Use a bit of water to thin it or use an acrylic medium.
For everything else, I just used the flat and angled brushes to paint various values. This can be trial and error. Since acrylics dry so fast, you can paint over and adjust the values as needed. This is pretty much the technique used for the entire painting. Black and white painting is a great way to learn value.
Final Thoughts
This one took about 3 days in total. I’m used to doing paintings in one session over a couple of hours. I like sitting and taking my time. I can stop anytime if I’m not feeling it anymore. Very relaxing. I like how the water came out, especially with acrylics.
Though you don’t need a lot of materials, these black and white acrylic paintings take a bit of time. These are layers upon layers so you need to let each layer dry before adding the next. Now, acrylic paint doesn’t take long to dry but it still takes patience.
I think I may have found something I’m good at! This is the biggest full landscape painting I’ve done in black and white acrylics. Really pleased with how this turned out. I have to admit I do enjoy these monochromatic paintings. They’re fun. I love playing with values. With acrylics, it’s easy. You can easily paint over a layer once it’s dry if you’re not happy with the value you’ve achieved.
I hope you enjoy this painting. In art, you can’t be afraid to try new things. Someone paying you to do it certainly gives you a little extra motivation! Comment below. If you want to see more of my work or see what’s for sale, check out my Etsy Shop to see other paintings available. You can also follow me on all my social media sites.
Happy Painting!