90 cm x 60 cm, oil paints on board.
Date produced: 9th March 2017 until July 2018.
The subject is the same magnificent Moreton Bay Fig tree that was the subject of my Microcosm project, and the previous painting presented this month, "The Magnificent Moreton Bay Fig, Angas Gardens, Adelaide Park Lands".
This oil painting is being done as a combination of a photograph, taken at 11:30 am on 9th March 2017, and an on-site pastel where I am trying to capture the colours as accurately as possible from direct observation. The pastel is reproduced below.
The painting is being done completely indoors in my studio. I am basically trying to paint this image as if my paints were pastels, but when it is finished, the painting won't need to be framed behind glass to keep it protected from damage (my finished pastel paintings are usually kept unfixed and are very fragile, needing to be protected behind glass). It is nice to be able to mix my own subtle ranges of colours from the oil paints that I use, as opposed to having to manage using a vast number of differently coloured pastels to create as full a range of colours as possible. The oil paints that I use do change their colour a little as they dry (light colours will darken slightly and dark colours will lighten a little), so I need to be mindful of this as I paint. The painting has taken a lot of time so far, but I am quite happy with the results. The painting does have many subtle colour tones that haven't come through in the reproduction here (the reproduction here also has a bit of annoying reflection within some of the darker green strokes of the upper left of centre foliage region). The image here at least gives a reasonable idea of the painting. I wish to do some more work on some sections of the painting to get it ready for entering it in the 'Heysen Prize for Landscape 2018' competition. |
