Saturday afternoon with a blank canvas

I haven't painted on canvas in a long time. A year, perhaps? When I was reorganizing my studio, I found a 12 x 12 inch stretched canvas begging for my attention. I prepped it on Friday, and then on Saturday afternoon I set up to paint.

In February, I had taken this photo while walking with my camera downtown.  

 There was something in the play of light, shadow, color, and texture that appealed to me. Weathered, worn, and blue,  it suggested a weary tranquility. On a more abstract level, I simply liked the interplay of shapes.

I chose to use that photo as the basis of my painting Saturday. I warmed the colors up to brighten the mood and suggest a sunny afternoon.

I was really pleased with the result, with the way it makes me feel when I look at it. The blue in the photograph of the painting below is more intense than the actual color, so use your imagination to soften it just a bit. Creating this certainly reignited my interest in painting again. Now I'm going to have to buy another canvas! 

 (All photos Copyright 2012 Veronica McCabe Deschambault. Do not cut, copy, paste, or steal.)

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Comments

[Shirl Grrrl]

Lovely, V! How awesome that you can just jump back into painting and produce something so wonderful! =)

[Diane]

Wow, I love it. Excellent work!

[V-Grrrl]

Thank you! There's a gallery show coming up in November that will feature artworks that are no more than 6x6x6 inches. I may buy a bunch of small canvases and see what I can come up with to submit.

[Susan Raihala]

WOW!!!!!! What an amazing painting. And photograph, too. Where are you going to hang it?

[V-Grrrl]

Susan,

I don't know where I'm going to hang it. This is one I would like to hang up and live with for a while. Something will have to come down so I can put this up as I'm trying not to overload my walls.

[RD]

I love that you saw this and imagined it on canvas. It's beautiful. I don't think I would have seen it. The detail is so textural. Love it.

[V-Grrrl]

Thanks! When I took the original photo, I took it of the whole window, which had an arched top. When I got home and saw the photo on my computer monitor, it didn't convey what I'd seen with my mind's eye. It didn't elicit the same emotional response I'd felt when I glanced up and saw it 30 feet above a city street. I found by cropping the photo and using just a corner of the image that showed the peeling paint, broken stone, and the shadow of the tree branch with a section of the blue window, it recaptured the mood for me.

[Chrisy]

Love it! I think it belongs in your renovated bathroom. :)