Start with the Light: Richard Schloss at Santa Barbara Fine Art Gallery
By Christine Hsu, LUM x UCSB arts writing intern
In the 1970s, Richard Schloss found his niche as a landscape artist in Santa Barbara. Today, he continues to capture the sunny city he calls home as co-founder and artist-in-residence at Santa Barbara Fine Art Gallery.
When approaching a new painting, Schloss starts with an appreciation of the natural light. He focuses in on how the atmosphere shifts, the time of day and the degree of contrast among elements in the space.
“My paintings start off with the very simplest relationship which is light here and dark there,” said Schloss. “All of the details come later, and I end with the same relationship I started with: light on one side and dark on the other side.”
Richard Schloss, Afternoon Light in Lotusland, oil on canvas.
While teaching an art workshop in 2004, Schloss completed a study of the cliffs below Shoreline Park on Santa Barbara’s scenic beach. The nine paintings in the series, Daylight Studies, present a specific lighting or weather condition from the same point of view and of the same landscape.
Even though the foggy days blur the landscape, and the nights dim the beach, Schloss finds the light in the darkness. In Low Fog, the colors take on a light blue-gray tint while objects recede towards the background. Dark gray colors become the source of light that could otherwise be shadows in brighter settings.
Across the series, the moodiness and character of Santa Barbara’s sunlight becomes apparent. In Dusk or Twilight, Schloss captures the vibrant sunset of Santa Barbara with blush pinks and dusty purples that surround a small portion of yellows and oranges. The ocean barely reflects the sunset, and the cliffs stand dimmed in the shadows. The light in Low Sun, 90° and Low Sun, 180° exposes the surrounding landscape. Covered in harsh orange light, the cliffs endure the majority of the light's reflection. In Low Sun, 90°, the trees hardly feel the warmth of the sun, whereas the trees in Low Sun, 180° are rendered with a striking warm orange.
Richard Schloss, Daylight Studies, oil on canvas.
Schloss is a master at bringing out the depth and personality of clouds. In Warm Light, Santa Barbara, cloud wisps hover above the sunlit mountains and contrast with the vibrant blue sky. Schloss has managed to highlight the reflections in the clouds by brushing them with warm light.
“With the clouds, I think of them as finding their shape,” said Schloss. “They are finding themselves with the light.”
Schloss creates depth in this painting by starting with the location and color of the light and then progressing to how objects interact with the light. The mountains coordinate with soft grays and bright oranges to produce pockets of light. The city below bathes in orange light that gently shifts to darker greens and grays as the eyes move from the background to the foreground.
“All the elements are in one space and they grow out of it,” said Schloss. “Objects start in this space and find their shape according to where it is light and dark and in relation to the nature of the atmosphere.”
Richard Schloss at work in his studio at Santa Barbara Fine Art.
In Shoreline Light and Color, the dichotomy between light and dark gradually moves from one end of the canvas to the other. Warm light brushes against the blended sky and ocean as the waves wash onto the shore barely reaching the rocks. Just like the motion of the waves, the light moves from right to left. Hints of light blue, whites and oranges reflect off the outer ridges of the cliffs and rocks, but darker gray and black strokes dominate the left side.
Along with paying close attention to the nature of light on canvas, Schloss also keeps in mind how the light in a gallery will alter his works when they are exhibited. He has been a plein air painter for almost 20 years and is part of the Oak Group, though nowadays he works more in his studio at Santa Barbara Fine Art, where his work is also shown regularly.
Richard Schloss, Rain Reflections, oil on canvas.
COVER: Richard Schloss, Warm Light, Santa Barbara, oil on canvas, 40x64 in.
