Brumby Sunset
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| Medium: |
Oil |
| Base: |
Board |
| Year: |
2010 |
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Oil painting on board based on a photograph taken in Pearcedale (Victoria, Australia) in the early evening. It catches the sun striking a large formation of cumulus clouds which has been used as the main focus of the work. The original foreground of the photograph has been altered. A composite of images have been merged on to the painting to create a piece that tells a better story for the viewer. |
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A couple of years ago I started a landscape based on a photograph that I took in the front of our property. The sun was starting to set and the cloud formation was very striking. I had thought of putting the buildings in our yard into the work but as I started getting right into it the whole thing started to feel like a bad idea. |
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Rather than keeping on with a composition that was obviously not working, I put the painting aside. I have pulled it out every now and then to think about what to do with it, failed and put it away again. I was waiting for inspiration to strike to bring this work from what could have been a very boring piece to something with a story. |
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This happened a few weeks ago as I was working on another painting. I had this work out and was glancing across the studio at it as I was taking breaks from the easel. Suddenly I knew what to do with it. The whole thing came into my head and all I had to do was quickly get a sketch done for later reference. |
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It started with me going back to the real focus of the picture, the thing that most attracted me to it in the beginning. It was the clouds. The rest is the surrounding story, what is going on in addition to the sun going down and casting light on to the huge cumulus formations. |
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The painting was re-started the next day and worked on in-between other works during the week. It now tells a story and I have attempted to keep the foreground simple by not overworking it. It is supposed to be early evening so there should not be too much showing in the shadows. I think it is now a more interesting work and it is what I wanted to portray in the first place. |
| Dimensions: |
90 cm (width) × 60 cm (height) |
| Ownership: |
Artist |
| Credit: |
Original photography by Janice Mills |
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