Blue Nocturne 1992

Eyvind Earle made this scene, Blue Nocturne, most likely with tempera or gouache. The marks are so controlled and smooth, it looks airbrushed, but I don’t think it is. The color harmony is tight, almost monochromatic, a kind of fairytale, and the shapes are rounded, with a graphic feeling. The whole image sits on the surface with an interesting combination of depth and flatness. The big tree on the right, in particular, is a trip. Look closely at how Earle renders it. There are bands of greens and reds in its bark that swirl around the trunk and it's as if he's mapping some strange topography onto the tree itself. Earle worked for Disney for a while, and I guess you can see it. The precision and rendering is intense, like Magritte. The realness of color and the impossible coming together – it's all there. It's not so cool, and that's cool with me.