Darcie Peet is a painter who divides her time between the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and the Sonora Desert in Arizona, painting her impressions of both in crisp, painterly oils.

Peet pays particular attention to the character of light as it plays across her landscapes, whether muted or bright, often revealing itself in bands of sunlight and shadow.

I particularly enjoy those compositions in which she establishes a dominant theme of dark tones, and then makes her statement of the lighter passages as a subtle but dramatic accent.

Hollis Dunlap is a painter based in Connecticut, who take influences from the master so the past, but brings incorporates them into an approach with an unmistakably contemporary sensibility.

Though he also paints landscape and still life subjects, Dunlap’s primary focus if figurative work. His compositions in all cases explore the expression of light in value, from stark chiaroscuro to delicate gradations of afternoon light.

His surfaces are not shy about stating that they are composed of paint, with brusque paint applications and areas of the background left open to the underpainting.

Unfortunately, the reproductions on his website are on the small side. You can find larger images on the site of Gallery 1261.

Dunlap teaches classes in figure painting at the Lyme Art Association in Old Lyme, CT. There is an interview with the artist on Fine Art Connoisseur.

Dunlap’s work is currently on display in an exhibition at Sirona Fine Art in Hallanale Beach, FL until January 11, 2015.

[Via Yann ‘Deshoulières]