Monday 3 August 2009

Finished it - Joyeuse S & M

I've enjoyed doing this painting - its been fun drawing it out, working out where I was going to hide the "s" and the "m". I think they're quite well hidden if you don't know what you're looking for, and obvious if you do - which I like, very much!! It appeals to me!

I've taken photos as I've gone along, as the recipients requested that I did that to show the different stages of the artwork. So, because of that I shall use this as my demo piece on my website so that you can see the process of creating a painting from scratch. I'll be putting that on my website soon.

I love the fact that the finished painting is better than the photograph I worked from. The photo flattened the depth but I've given more of an illusion of depth in the painting, so that you really feel that you're looking at a valley with the houses leading along towards the church. The colours requested were ochres, Mediterranean blues, light blues and greens, with only a few splashes of reds and oranges. I think it has a fresh quality to it, and I love the clarity of the blue shadows on the houses and the faded terracottas of the roof tiles.

I started with drawing the image out - and placing the "s" and "m" within the shapes of the landscape. Then I used masking fluid to protect the areas that are the white of the buildings. Then I could start to paint, and did a wet wash for the sky in cerulean blue with a touch of cobalt blue to add depth in places, and dabbing out the faded cloud shapes whilst creating the stronger white cloud on the left hand side to add interest as well as balance. Then the distant mountains were painted with cobalt blue, and after they had dried I painted the near hills in green gold, cobalt blue and french ultramarine for the deep shadows, and making a strong contrast for the church spire to stand out against and be the focal point. After that I painted the trees and grassy ares around the town in cobalt blue, cerulean blue, green gold and quinacridone gold. Then it was the darks of the houses in cobalt blue, cerulean blue, egypt violet and french ultramarine, and the red and oranges of the roofs in cadmium red and aurolin. By then all the areas had been painted and it was time to remove the masking fluid revealing the white paper underneath. And after that it was working over the whole of the painting to darken areas around the whites to make them stand out more, and add touches of deep colour to add depth to the painting. I think its taken me a little over 20 hours to create it.

So..............can you see them? .................the s and m?

8 comments:

Spiky Zora Jones said...

i love it. Jackie...you are a talented artist. It's awesome. It shows the time you took on it.

you really impress me. damn you're good. :)
ciao honey

Jackie Adshead said...

Spiky - Thankyou, for all you say....

nitebyrd said...

Jackie, I'm so impressed with the painting! I gives me a warm feeling and makes me think of a place with friends. The colors are so warm yet dreamy. Gorgeous!

I think I see the S&M, the S is water/path (?) on the left side and the M is part of a side and roof of the building on the right?

Jackie Adshead said...

Nitebyrd - Thankyou! A place with friends, thats a lovely thought....

Yes, you've got the letters right - the "S" is on the left hand side and is part shadow of a building, part shadow of a wall and part path - and the "M" as you say is on the right hand side as part of the roof line - well done you!

Indi said...

Aha! A painting that you just want to step into and feel the sun on your back, the breeze in your face,to smell the atmosphere around you. I can see the 'S' n 'M' too. The purple colour of the 'S' on the left and the outline of the building for the 'M' on the right... very clever Jackie.

Jackie Adshead said...

Indigo - Yes, it is that sort of painting.....that you can step into....

And I'm glad you can see the S and M - well done! And thanks...

Fitzy said...

Another lovely painting Jackie and you certainly feel as though you could step right in.

It does seem the others had more luck finding S & M than I did, S was no problem, but I had to wait for the comments to find M

I am sure they will both love it when they get see it, and of course having the photos of how it was done will be very interesting as well.

Jackie Adshead said...

Fitzy - Thankyou, yes they seem to love it already and hopefully will do more so when they see it properly for themselves now they've seen how it was created.