Hazy, Muted Colours: Landscape Painting by Frank Kusch
About Midnight, acrylic on canvas
Painter Frank Kusch has been working in hazy, muted colours to create forest landscapes that look shrouded in fog. The Saskatoon-based artist has a special affinity for isolated land and impressionistic painting styles.
Twilight North, acrylic on canvas
Some of the recent works in Frank’s Dark Waters series really catch my eye – the way the artist renders the light of early morning or early evening fog is brilliant and expertly captures the tone of a still body of water seen through the mist. The gesturally-depicted trees are often silhouetted in a single dark tone of paint, and yet they appear almost hyper-realistic given the dim lighting. These works create an inviting tone of drama and mystery.
The top of Frank's Dark Waters gallery
Frank’s Raven Trees series has a similar mood to it, with the subject matter switched from foggy waters to the depths of untamed woods. In many of these works, the focus seems to be equally on the trees themselves, and on the beams of light streaming through the forest canopy, illuminating strategic elements in the painting and drawing the eye vertically.
