Dandenongs
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| Medium: |
Oil |
| Base: |
Canvas |
| Year: |
2011 |
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1st place - monthly qualifier McClelland Guild of Artists "Artist of the Year" competition (September 2011) |
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This oil painting on canvas is based on a photo shoot in in the Dandenongs. The sun was fairly low and the shadows and highlighted distant valleys were so beautifully I had to take several shots. The valleys were filled with a soft golden light and the hills were turning a shade of cobalt in places where the shadows fell. The European trees nearer the foreground had a warm reddish tint with hints of cobalt and very cool green, then as your eye was drawn to the distant scene past the reservoir, the colours faded the a light blue/grey with bright golden sunlight touching the buildings and tips of foliage. All too beautiful not to paint - and this is the result. |
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Every now and then I like to go for a drive with camera in hand to take a new load of reference photos for future paintings and drawings. It isn't possible to get out and paint on site whilst running a small business and making yourself available for graphic design contracting so I have to be in the studio most of the week. |
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As my studio is divided into graphic design on one side and fine art on the other, I can easily swap from one task to the other as time permits. This makes multi-tasking possible as well as modifying photos to make creative compositions and altering the lighting and colour balance in Photoshop easier. I also use the computer to check the tonal values and composition of works as I am doing them. It's a bit like using technology like other artists use a mirror and a small rectangular "sighting" board for. The advantage of the computer is that I can turn things upside down, reflect them, make alterations and adjustments without having to change the original artwork. |
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This painting is based on a photo taken in the Dandenongs on an afternoon drive. The sun was fairly low and the shadows and highlighted distant valleys were so beautiful I had to take several shots. |
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I had a go at this scene in pastel to begin with, to work out the kinks and address any compositional problems. I was then ready to make a stab at the final work on a very nice canvas that would be exhibited and put up for sale. |
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The painting came out very well and there are a lot of little bits in it that I am particularly proud of. It has received many very positive comments and is now ready to be put into a frame suitable for selling. It is being entered into one of the spring exhibitions for 2011. |
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Until then it is on display at the head office of CreArtive in Pearcedale (Victoria, Australia) and can be viewed by appointment. People viewing the work so far have said that they feel as though they are looking out a window at a view they would love to have from their home. The painting was awarded first place for landscape oil painting at the September 2011 meeting of the McClelland Guild of Artists at it's first showing in public in a temporary second hand frame. |
| Dimensions: |
50 cm (width) × 40 cm (height) |
| Ownership: |
Artist |
| Credit: |
Original photography by Janice Mills |
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