Stark rock outcrops towering over desert vistas, waves breaking on a coastal paradise, billowing clouds over serene mountain settings—for many years, those were the images that Glenn Dean most frequently chose to celebrate on canvas. Recently, however, he has expanded his subject matter to encompass the realm of figurative work, as well.

“In my early landscapes I avoided painting figures as a way of purifying the landscape,” he says. “People were included on a small scale to show the enormity of a canyon wall, or the size of the clouds. However, beginning in 2012, I transitioned into painting a lot more prominent figures in the landscape, realizing that there are certain subjects or cultures that harmonize beautifully with nature. For instance, riders or other figures add another level of life to the landscape and connect our humanity with these spaces and experiences in nature. I realized that a whole new world of compositional possibilities awaited me in pursuing these figures that in the past I had, literally and figuratively, been keeping at a distance.”

Another stepping stone in Dean’s career came in 2016, when he was invited to show his work at the prestigious Prix de West Invitational hosted by the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Glenn Dean (California)

In the Warmth of the Setting Sun
Oil
20″x20″

“A moment in the last warmth of the day’s sun with the rising moon to illuminate the coming night sky. I wanted the horse and figures all together to create essentially one mass in the composition while trying to keep a flow and connectivity to their overlapping shapes. I tried to keep a warm tonality throughout to help achieve the effect of the sun’s subtle and fading light.”

Glenn Dean (California)

In the Balance
Oil
36″x36″
“I wanted to simply depict the gentle strength and ethereal nature of a woman, poised firmly in the blowing wind and strongly silhouetted against the celestial evening sky.”