A few months ago, one of my kayak friends asked me whether I could make him a painting of the sea. I was absolutely delighted to receive my first official commission! To get an idea of what type of image he wanted, I asked him to send me some photos that would show the right atmosphere. These are a few but you can see more of this amazing photographer on Flickr under Qayaq:
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| ©Tadhg MacConeely |
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| ©Tadhg MacConeely |
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| ©Tadhg MacConeely |
I found another image online which gave me more insight in movement, colours, tones and contrast:
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| ©Calxibe |
At the same time, we were asked to create a self-motivated painting at art class which would be exhibited at the end. I used my painted studies as preparation for the final commission painting for that. After seeing my first study of a section of the above image, my teacher told me it resembled the way artist
Joan Eardley painted; thick with lots of texture. So I tried to get as much information about her as possible and found this image (which is only half of the painting) that would take me and my painting further.
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| Left side of Foam and Blue Sky ©Joan Eardley |
So far so good. But then I realised that my friend wanted to have a painting as big as a door! My garden studio wouldn't be big enough to manage this, so I decided to divide the image into three panels, each 56 cm x 42 cm in size. By using thick acrylics and only a palette knife, I tried to feel and transfer the flow onto paper by shaping and creating texture in the paint. It was really liberating! This is the result:
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| Whirling Wave ©Fenfolio 2011 |
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| Close-up of Whirling Wave ©Fenfolio 2011 |
The painting was exhibited at art school recently and my friend really liked it so very soon it will actually be hanging in his place!
I really like the waves, exhilarating!
ReplyDeleteWow! I'd like to have a talented friend like you lol - did your friend appreciate your work?
ReplyDeleteOh, thanks so much!! He was (and still is) thrilled with it.
ReplyDelete