About Looking Up / Resolvere
‘Looking Up / Resolvere‘ – The Artworks of RUSSELL RISKO. A semiabstract study of a skyward anatomical structure – the Bristlecone Pine. Having recently discovered Bristlecone Pines, I was intrigued to explore this subject for a series of new paintings.
Vision Statement
Resolvere (Swedish for Resolute) is one in a series titled ‘Looking Up’. This series explores the divergence and deviation symbolized through anatomical tree branch structures and negative/positive leaf cluster patterns. I find the near-to-far points of view interesting, as they offer a challenging opportunity to create. This, along with earth-to-sky perspectives, provide areas of visual interest that may otherwise go undetected and unexplored.
The Grisaille Technique
The creation of this painting employs a Grisaille form of underpainting (or in my case – an underdrawing) along with watercolor glazes. A Grisaille (pronounced, gree-zay) is a form of drawing or painting that involves a detailed, monochromatic image, often created entirely in black, white and shades of gray. In many cases, the next step is to glaze color over the grisaille, to create a finished drawing or painting. It helps the artist see values and shapes correctly, it aids in matching colors to values, and it also lends unity to the painting.
Great Basin Bristlecone
The Great Basin Bristlecone Pines (Pinus longaeva) are an extremely rare species of tree found nowhere else in the world but California, Nevada and Utah. Among their most interesting characteristics is that they are found at only the highest elevations (between 5,600 and 11,200 ft.) where nothing else seems to grow.
Methuselah
This strange tree (The Methuselah right), shaped by the wind, snow, and rain has survived over thousands of years, overseeing the rise and fall of great empires, growing through ice-ages and catastrophic volcanic eruptions. But their ability to survive these harsh environments and adverse growing conditions is exactly their secret to great longevity.
A Great Basin Bristlecone pine once recorded as the oldest tree in the world, estimated between 4700-5000 years-old.