Midnight Sun Diary 1 - Origin... and the Northern Sky

Midnight Sun - 3x3ft by 6ft Canvas Panels

Summer Series

Midnight Sun is a group of three paintings of the Great Slave Lake as seen from the outskirts of Yellowknife.

Midnight Sun's origins lie in the summer series, a group of colored pencil drawings who's dynamic nature needed to be explored further, but in a much larger format. A family connection led to the discovery and exploration of the Great Slave Lake and Yellowknife region through photography and other media, and finalized this as the location for the piece.

The size of the painting, occupying a 6 foot by 9 foot 8 space, was to be leveraged to create an expansive scene and allow immersion in both the tone and environment of the area.

Dozens of pictures of northern areas in Canada and Yellowknife in particular were researched online.  Colors and patterns were noted.  One of the pictures, due to both color and composition, became the basis of this painting.  A photographer climbed a hill on the outskirts of Yellowknife and took a picture of the sun over Great Slave Lake just before midnight.  This one was a good starting point for the look and feel of the picture.

In order to isolate the identity of a northern sunset, a comparison was made of sunsets from all areas of the world. The colors were contrasted with the colors seen in  those from our own Northern Territories.

The rich reds and warm oranges of tropical sunsets were not present in colder climates. Other brilliant color ranges instead made themselves known.  The photographs were examined to pull out the color ranges found in Yellowknife sunsets.

Cooler oranges, purples, yellows with lots of white values, interspersed with bands of cooler blue.  These identified this region and provided the needed brilliance without the warmth of tropical areas.  Colors were first tested on testing canvases to assure compatibility, and then applied in thick layers to the top 2/3 of the canvas.  The flowing lines repeating patterns were adjusted, with some areas having more than a dozen different color tone and form changes before the correct hue and flow was achieved.

The large blue sky areas were coated with

buttery blue acrylic paint in thick layers to provide deep and rich coloring. The more detailed areas evolved slowly, with morning tea considerations and late night pondering resulting in many refinements over time.

Unlike most sunsets, the Midnight Sun is moving as much, if not more, laterally than vertically.  The sweeping lines and repeated forms of the sky reflect the lateral motion of that unique trajectory.

After the sky was completed the canvas sat unchanged for a few months to allow other projects to progress and for careful consideration of the next portion of the painting; Great Slave Lake.