Winter Lake

In the previous post I mentioned the ease of producing landscape images with charcoal. This is because of the range of tones immediately available, without having to worry about the addition of white paint and the technical difficulties associated with this. Another feature of the use of charcoal is the ability to draw lines, some thin and some broad areas of graduated colour. The small charcoal sketches I produce, before the painting, sometimes pack more interest than the final painting. Probably because the technicalities of painting dictate the direction the image takes. This is why I think the more is known about the behaviour of the raw materials of painting, ie paint, the more you steer this process.

This painting is an experiment in drawing with paint. The sky was the prime target of this treatment and the rest of the painting was tagged on, in my usual way (recent paintings), except the trees on the right. Just before I started to apply the paint here, I thought of the way I would suggest trees with charcoal. This is trying not to create ‘tree’ shapes but abstract lines which create a framework on which the viewer hangs the trees. These fine lines were going to be a problem with solvent only so small amounts of Liquin were added to the colour mixing for these trees.

In retrospect I should have attempted to treat the water in the same way as the sky. This would have produced a ‘tapestry’ look, which might be interesting. While all this is going on, I’m most of all interested in creating an inviting familiar world for the viewer.

I will post the video of the painting process in a few days. see you then.