looking over my shoulder

There isn’t too much to see yet but I thought you might like to peer over my shoulder this morning and see what is happening. I have started on the larger 16 x 20 inch gessobord following yesterday’s study.

I do not expect to end up with many process shots for this painting just because of how absorbed I become when working on it. There is no ground or underpainting as I felt this would interfere with the flat heavily filtered light on this rainy day. Also, unlike most of my paintings I have built up areas near the top more than usual before getting the whole painting roughed in. I may regret this meddling in my own approach but it felt right and the paint was the right consistency for working when I applied it last night so I didn’t interrupt my intuition.

The blank areas are the rocks in the foreground which have a much deeper value than the repeating of the same colours in the background. The dabs you see there are what I call “markers” for future reference and to guide my work in the background. Once the whole painting is rough in, this one is going to require repeated building of paint to get to the end result I am seeking. This is what the study was mostly about yesterday.

SEED: Alfred Sisley ((October 30, 1839 – January 29, 1899) and English Impressionist Painter born in Paris to English parents may be of help with this particular painting. Though he has been overshadowed by Monet his work is really quite stunning and much more attuned the the same sensibilities as Camille Pissarro – who I feel more akin to than Monet even though I am sometimes called the Monet of Mayne Island. If you look at the link I provided you will see many paintings where he has created depth and interest with little value change on a gray or winter day. This is what I am after – depth with only subtle difference in values in the picture plane. This is not a new exercise but with this scene it is a complex study of light, time and spacial relationships. We shall see what happens!

Today I must also go out on a photo shoot for a client. So the work on this painting will need to happen in the next couple of hours and then we will be into Easter weekend. All the best of the holiday weekend to you and may you enjoy a renewed sense of resilience with the arrival of spring.

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Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com