Ring of Moon Phases on Night Sky

by Elizabeth Reich

Title

Ring of Moon Phases on Night Sky

Artist

Elizabeth Reich

Medium

Mixed Media - Water-soluble Wax Pastels, Watercolor, Digital

Description

The best stargazing happens with just moonlight, a quick gaze at the moon, and guessing what shapes one sees on the moon's surface.
For this artwork the wondrous Neocolor II water-soluble wax pastels were brought out to add texture to the watercolor moons. In Photoshop a black overlay of color was added to a subdued blue watercolor wash.

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A Deeper Explanation of "Ring of Moon Phases on Night Sky"

This piece is one of my top sellers, and nearly the most talked-about, second only to the cyanotypes when it comes to questions I get.
The biggest question?
“What are the moon phases in this artwork?”
Followed by, they don't appear realistic…
Here’s the deeper dive:
This is a heavily artistic interpretation of a NASA’s Phases of the Moon photograph. Starting from the top (Noon position) and moving clockwise, you'll see:
First Quarter → Waxing Crescent → New → Waning Crescent → Third Quarter → Waning Gibbous → Full → Waxing Gibbous.
The moon’s orientation in this piece is intentionally not realistic. Why? Because the angle at which we see the moon phases depends on where we are on Earth, particularly your latitude. North or South.
The value gradients in the artwork help orient each phase. It’s less astronomy textbook, more cosmic expression.
Welcome to the mind of Elizabeth.

Interpreting discoveries in nature with watercolors, aka colorful puddles, since 2014;
Inspired by the outdoors and flower gardens. Ready to bring the outdoors inside? Available for your living space and your on-the-go day with wall art prints, home decor, and unique gifts. Designed around my colorful, painterly, watercolor creations.

www.lzbthcreative.com
Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest handles are: lzbth creative

All copyrights and reproduction rights are retained by artist Elizabeth Reich dba LZBTH Creative Content. This artwork may not be reproduced by any process without the expressed written permission of the artist.

Uploaded

October 12th, 2022

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