Fighting The Mountain

Hey there dancakies,

You know I've already prodded you with several critiques on this already, and you have gracefully surpassed my suggestions. The background mountains went from feeling flat and uninspired to bulky and gaining a personality. You added form and shade where it was needed and it brought the rock to life. I love the narrow pass between them, how you darkened it believably and created more room for the airplane to take center stage, and yet this pass brings your eye around to the upper portions of the composition.

Is it me or did you wipe out the purples? I swear at one point you had purple in there. For this change, I'm glad - while I did not mention (I think? It's been so long) that they were unnecessary, you obliterated them on your own. The piece is dramatic but monochrome for the most part, which allows the feeling of an old explorer movie! The only giveaway is also a strength: the shining yellow logo on the tail of the plane helps zero the eye on the main attraction and provides a nice counterpoint to all the blue. The sunny color also feels a bit ironic somehow, as if such a bright happy color would live on such a wreck seems a little funny to me.

That humor aside, the piece is striking. It brings a palpable chill, a feeling of such bitter cold, with the strongly slanted composition making you feel as if you, too, could fall off that unforgiving precipice at any moment. And yet we are situated above the action, almost demi-gods in our view, safe from such peril. It allows us to enjoy the scene unfolding before us with a sympathy for the small figures below and their plight to reach the plane before it avalanches down the mountain.

My only critique would be, I wish I saw more of a cast shadow from the plane, as right now it does not feel completely rooted in the space.

I love this piece because it reminds me of so many national geographic photos of people climbing everest, and I always wondered how it would feel to be atop the world in such a way, seeing the curve of the earth without passing through the atmosphere or seeing it through an airplane window.

The danger that the plane suggests has brought this piece to a new level of drama. I'm glad you added that surprise, and I look forward to enjoying this piece in my favorites (and hopefully on my wall at some point) for a long time.

Thanks for finishing this - and for the dedication. I will always be around to prod you into finishing your stellar compositions.

Hugs,
Gracie