The Making of 'Summer Retreat'
04 June, 2019 1 comments Leave a comment
In my artistic practice, usually each painting I make is inspired by a different photograph. But every now and then I photograph a scene that captivates my imagination so strongly that I want to develop more than one painted interpretation.
Such was the case with a chance photo I took in the Georgian Bay region on one of our many excursions there. The photo showed a tiny cabin perched on a rocky island, with some gorgeous pine trees nestled around it.
I decided to use the photo for demonstration purposes in two watercolour classes I taught in 2016, where I showed students how to invent an imaginary scene using the two reference photos shown below.
Refuge' (16 x 12") and 'Island in the Storm' (11 x 14"), shown below, were my two demonstration paintings.
The image of a wee abode perched on a rocky isle continued to haunt my imagination, even after the paintings were completed and found their forever homes. I wondered what the island would look like under clear blue skies and in a large format. 'Summer Retreat' was the result.
Fortunately I had the foresight to take photos of each stage of this challenging painting as I worked. From these work-in-progress photos, I assembled a short time lapse video, so you can see the flow of this piece to its completion.
Click on the image below to view the 2-minute story:
For more information about this painting, click here.
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So beautiful, your imagination has sparked the nicest of your 3 paintings. One of these days I hope to get to Port Perry to take one of your classes.