This series was created with two goals in mind. First, I wanted to learn more about how to paint air and create volume within a painting. Second, I hoped to develop work that could be used as a backdrop for a combined media installation that would also feature my paper dragons. I studied Turner and Bierstadt’s examples of immersive, atmospheric landscapes, and tried to build translucency and depth through many layers of paint and medium.

I set out to combine realist landscape painting with fantasy themes, using atmosphere, light, depth, and scale combined to create a sense of adventure and exploration that rewards the viewer for sustained viewing.