28 x 38 cm. Quarter ‘imperial’ sheet Arches rough 300 gms.
© The Artist.
Click on image to enlarge (& see without the blur).
Looking down over a meander in a river
Sunny evening point from a rock outcrop overlooking a meander in the river Lot, the next large east-west river southwards from the river Dordogne.
Painting demands a certain type of concentration. And plein-air painting still yet another type of concentration. The french word ‘éveil’ comes to mind, which translated means awakening or wakefulness or alertness. Painting does require alot of concentration… and wakefulness. Yet at the highest state ( I hope I’ve not yet reached it, as I adhere to the principal of the necessity of ‘over-reaching’, of always pushing further for quality) of éveil, it feels more like dreaming, than being totally awake. When I talk to other watercolourists, they too report a feeling of ‘it all sort of coming together’ in a state of ‘éveil’. It’s only after the painting session that I realise just how tired I get after painting & day dreaming!
The Hudson River School of Painting
I was out surfing “The Hudson River School of Painting” & stumbled across these jpegs, which I can’t yet attribute, so whoops, copyright. I post them here not because the red idian with the umbrella on the rocky outcrop was probably off on a day dream éveil but because they are wonderful images of meanders.
Is it a cheesy cliché to paint THE VIEW?
Always a nagging feeling inside me, that hasn’t gone away, that it’s too cliché… but , on the other hand…. neither has my desire to paint these amazing views & meanders. They move me deeply.
far from the world of plein-air watercolours but belonging in spirit with the red indians & the Hudson River painters, is my old cheese ‘Le Cingle de Tremolat’
