TSoT = The Story of Trees
In the previous blog I mentioned that I will meet you in my little studio next time. Well, here we are. We will not have the open vistas associated with plein-air art in progress, but I trust I may have a few “gains” to show, as a result of sitting underneath the fluorescent tubes. The reason for my location change: I wanted to try to be more precise and I wanted to enjoy the comfort of leaving the work to dry at its leisure and then I could continue when it was convenient again. Obviously, working this way is not as exciting as the “real deal” but I think the flexibility it affords the artist is an advantage.
I took this photograph one misty morning on the farm; it rained heavily during the night and we feared the roof would not be there in the morning, but fortunately it was when we woke up. In the Kalahari, such scenes are not common, so I captured it. I transferred the photo to my smart phone and I started painting. What is wonderful about working from one’s phone – which I was not really accustomed to – is that one can zoom in and out, when one is not sure of something. If one has a tablet, I imagine one may work even more comfortably.
I may have mentioned before that the size I worked on here is A4. I can imagine working on a very large scale in the comfort of one’s studio, using this method of letting each layer dry naturally. When one is on location one is too rushed; a studio approach is much calmer, as far as I am concerned. On the other hand, I must just state that working on location is more immediate and definitely more exciting. When one is in the studio, where each layer can take its time to dry, while one goes to sip a cup of home-brewed coffee, one runs the risk of easily over-working the painting, I believe.
Coming back to Misty Morning, I struggled a bit with my mist, because it could easily become too blue and I did not quite know what I was doing, neither did I have block out liquid nor fine brushes. What you see here is me trying my best to find my way through the colourful puddles I had in front of me. Another advantage of studio work I found is: one gets to know the colours; one has time to test them before one goes over the edge. I think I took one entire day to complete Misty Morning. I was not rushed and I added the layers casually. We had visitors and I could sneak out frequently to add something extra to the little painting which lay on the desk and I did not have to wash any equipment; I could simply open and close the studio door.
As I was typing this blog post, the title of this work reminded me of Johnny Mathis and his rendition of Misty. I am including the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCQRZbisuMA. As I mentioned earlier, the “misty” part of the picture actually challenged me, but the watery nature of watercolour and the slow process I could follow allowed me to add the “foggiest” part of the work. If you think I did not have the "foggiest" idea of what I was doing, well, I may agree with you.
I added a few links to my online store where you can view the work on other items. I hope you can join me next time for another arty “repose” in my studio. Until then, remember: There is art in your heart.
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