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Weathered

Weathered
Medium: Pastel
Base: Paper
Year: 2011
Pastel on dark blue pastel paper from photograph taken by Janice Mills of the shoreline near Flinders, Victoria, Australia. The scene is near the pier where there are remains of older constructions along the beach. I don't know the history of the area so I don't know exactly what all the left over wooden and metal pieces were part of but they make for interested compositions.
Whilst it is tempting to take in the whole panorama when photographing shorelines and seascapes, it is important to take in some of the smaller details that are nearly right under your feet. One thing I like is how light affects things and how time and the weather changes objects. When I saw these left over bits on the beach I had to get some shots of them. The rusting rails and the wood that is being slowly eaten away by the water and the weather, I knew there was at least some good practice for drawing and painting textures that could be taken from the subjects.
As I worked on the photos on the computer, a few of them started to stand out and good subjects for a finished artwork. I know the view on this one is a bit different, but that is part of the journey isn't it? We experiment and we learn by doing. There were a few challenges in this work, such as getting the textures and the balance of colours right, but also keeping the slightly quirky angle of the shot. It also had to keep that 3D look given by the way the light was angled across the objects.
All in all I really enjoyed painting up this piece. It was easy to do and fun. I also faced some challenges and feel I have done a fairly good job on them. There is always room to improve, but if you can stand back from a work after a few weeks away from it and really “see” it as a whole scene and not a series of successes and or errors, or worse one big mistake staring back at you, you can be a happy artist!
Dimensions: 58 cm (width) × 48 cm (height)
Ownership: Artist
Credit: Original photography by Janice Mills
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