Wednesday 30 April 2014

April Reflections



 Oil on Board, 9x12 inches

I painted this one as a demonstration painting to the Wollaton Art Group in Derbyshire. Above is the finished piece, titivated back home in the studio, and below is the painting as was, after the couple of hours demo. 

Not being flooded with sunlight, I had to pay very close attention to the close tones in the scene, and really the painting came to life with depicting the lovely, glassy surface of the water. Painting water is always the 'coup de grâce' in a demo, and the fear that some amateur painters have can be dispelled by staying calm and remembering that all you are painting is a reflective surface, not a clear substance, and you just have to paint what you see, making sure that the reflections of any trees or features are perpendicularly below them, otherwise the brain will find it disturbing and unreal. Even some fine painters have fallen into the trap of painting great reflections that don't marry-up with what they are reflecting above the water.

4 comments:

  1. Love this one! You have the ability to make water look so silky and wet...just like it should and does! Amazing!! I also really liked the bluebell painting from the last posting. It looked real...(though I've never walked an England path!)...with other flowers growing among the bluebells.I would love to have that one hanging on my wall!

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    1. Thank you very much BJR - your words are much appreciated!

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  2. Wonderful work as always Peter and nice to see before and after to get a peek of how your pictures come together. Ve

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    1. Thank you Ve1 I'll do some more stages photos sometime.

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