Enchanted Coast 1980

Eyvind Earle’s 'Enchanted Coast' is an amazing piece of work, and the artist created it using an incredibly smooth gouache paint. Look at the way the trees tumble down the hillside like a stack of hairy green and brown cannonballs. You can almost feel the artist painstakingly applying each thin layer, building up these dreamy little orbs. I wonder, did he mix a bunch of greens and browns, or did he just layer them on top of each other, letting the colors peek through? I can imagine Earle, lost in his own world, carefully crafting these little trees and probably smoking a cigarette. This piece really reminds me of the Hudson River School painters, and I like to think of them all hanging out, sharing tips and tricks. Painting is an ongoing conversation; each artist borrowing, tweaking, and adding to the mix, a constant back-and-forth that keeps the whole thing alive.