UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #35

“Glasshouse Mountains” (Prototype for a mural 180x720cm)

Acrylic

Size of prototype: 60x180cm

THE IDEA BEHIND THE PROTOTYPE PAINTING:

An iconic natural feature of the Sunshine Coast is the Glasshouse Mountains.  Those who live outside of Australia may not know that Captain Cook (who discovered Australia) named these volcanic mountains in 1770.  

I can actually see the top of one of them from my home.  They are rich in indigenous legend which is available on the internet.  Each of the mountains represents different characters in a family.  It is with this myth in mind that I have painted the different panels in this prototype for a mural.

The Glasshouse Mountains can be viewed from different angles and protrude from a flat plane.  I have taken my view of them from Wild Horse Mountain. 

It is very difficult to get the whole group of mountains in one painting because of the expanse of the vista.

In order to capture this vast panorama, I borrowed from the large Japanese scroll paintings.  Some of these break a panoramic scene into twelve sections.  My mural has 12 panels each 180x60cm.  For my purposes, I have made each section a separate painting in itself.  This makes the size of the mural 180x720cm. 

The mural has not been painted, however the prototype is based on an equal ratio.  Thus the prototype is 60x180cm with each of the 12 sections of the prototype being 60x15cm.

Art Techniques used to achieve this:

In order to capture the vastness of Glasshouse Mountains, I have use perspective techniques.  However I wanted to keep my overall painting relatively abstract.  Therefore I had to carefully plan the painting before I started it.  The rear, middle and forward fields rocket off the canvas into the space inhabited by the viewer outside the picture plane.  The points of focus created by the perspective are therefore outside of the painting. This draws the viewers’ eye into the enclosed vista.  The long rectangle shape of the canvas also extenuates the horizontal line and exaggerates this vastness.

The colours are also carefully planned to capture the hazy flat landscape from which these mountains protrude.  The painting however is kept as flat as possible (a particular characteristic of my painting style) while keeping the integrity of each mountain shape.

The narrative of the mural is taken from the ancient legend and the different characters in the story are represented by each of the seven mountains.  Each character is portrayed in this painting through the choice of colour.   I always keep notes on the colours I use when painting because over time one forgets, and because I mix my colours, they are not easily reproduced.

I have taken the prototype as far as I intend.  I have not attempted to start on the mural because without having a commission to do such a sizable painting, it becomes a problem to store.  I would just love to have the opportunity to paint it some day as I can see just how I would be able to create very interesting flat planes of colour that cannot be achieved in the smaller version. 

At one stage I also envisioned that the mural could have an overlay painting of the foreground done in a transparent material which could float in front of the painting.  The foreground could alternatively, be projected onto the floating surface in front of the mural.  (See figure 1.) 

One might think that it is a lot of trouble to do a prototype before having a commission, however it is in the doing of the painting that one learns… and it’s also a joy to achieve the effects that one intends.  That for me is the reward.   If anyone hears of an opportunity to produce this idea, please let me know.

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