“The Fractured Earth #4” Rockscape Series
(Watercolour, Acrylic and Silver Ink
on Handmade Paper)
Size:
83x98cm (framed)
THE IDEA BEHIND THE PAINTING:
I am working on a series of ten
watermedia paintings on paper. They were inspired by the rocks along the
coastline near where I live at Point Cartwright. The rocks are volcanic and have been formed
by the cooling of lava eons ago. I took
many photos of these formations because, to my eye, they are very beautiful. I attach here one of the photos of these
natural volcanic formations.
As you can see I have painted the
composition in a realistic way but have taken liberties from that point, in
that I have then used creative techniques to further develop the painting a
contemporary way. Therefore the viewer
can see that the photo is the same in the painting, but that is all.
This series of paintings open for
discussion questions such as sustainability and environmental awareness in this
modern environment. It is no secret that
our beautiful Earth is beset by pollution and the magical blue planet is
becoming degraded. My paintings in this
series serve to draw attention to the fact the beauty which we enjoy may not be
the same for future generations to enjoy.
What we now take for granted is under threat. We all need to be aware and
responsible for our Earth’s care which includes the
oceans and coastlines.
Art Techniques used to achieve this:
Each painting
in this series is done on a full size sheet watercolour paper. Initially I used a wash of watercolour - Windsor
Blue+ Indian Red to represent the water-hole in the rock surface. I wet the centre of the sheet and let it
stand so that it has is fairly saturated before applying the watercolour wash. I kept the surrounding paper dry. The crack in the rock face is created by
indenting the paper with the wooden end of my brush while the paper is still
wet so that the watercolour runs into it.
I then let it dry.
The
surrounding area was painted with acrylic paint and applied with a roller. I used stylized images of fish to represent
the alarming number of dead fish I see washed up on the Mooloolaba beach when I
go walking. I borrowed these images from
ancient Japanese pottery and rendered them in silver ink.
The overall colour
palette consists of subtle variations on blue.
Blue is symbolic for our Earth - it being the blue planet. The only deviation from blue is the yellow
ochre splash in the upper segment of the circle and the ochre that I used
around the perimeter of the circle which depicted the waterhole in the rock
formation. A circle is a universal
symbol of wholeness and wellbeing. I was
prompted to paint this image when I saw the perfect circular water-hole in the
rock formation. The tone of the overall painting is high
which means not too much light/dark contrast.
There is not attempt at perspective but it is rather stylized and flat
with a static composition. This type of
composition is called a medallion because the subject takes up most of the
painting surface and is positioned in the centre.
All ten of
the Rockscape Series deal with some aspect of the degradation of the Earth’s
oceans. This particular one (#4) deals
with the depletion of the fish population in the oceans. It is estimated that the oceans’ fish
populations will be reduced by the year 2050 to an alarming low number. I will present more from the Rockscape Series
over the next year. Do you think that
this painting conveys my message?
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