Ralph Blakelock taught himself to paint through trial and error, and continued to use improvisation as an artistic method throughout his life. From his early landscapes in the Hudson River School, over time he developed a more subjective and intimate approach. His favorite themes were those depicting the wilderness and solitude; evocative and emotional paintings of illuminated moments in nature, of moonlight landscapes and twilight hours and Indian camps in the solitude of nature. He was also heavily influenced by the French Barbizon School, whose painters also favored dark forests and heavily worked surfaces.
