Fauvism

 The group leader of Get Painting, Tony, asked me if I'd heard of Fauvism. I hadn't. He said that my paintings (the ones he'd seen) reminded him of the style.

He may have a point.

Fauvist works were invested with a strong expressive reaction to the subjects portrayed.

I do know that I share the desire to use unnatural colours; to separate colour from its usual representational and realistic role, giving new, emotional meaning to the colors.

At the Edge

and On the Rocks were painted this way.

While I had a strong reaction to The Beachcomber, the use of bold, unnatural colours did not suit the style of painting I wanted to create. There was more reflection than drama in the subject. 

I was almost finished, when I painted over large parts of the canvas to achieve this.

Lock-side Bouquet was an attempt to create a realistic representation of a profusion of wildflowers from this photo, taken on the Marne in 2010

No Fauvist influence there, methinks.

The Portraits of Alf are definitely an attempt to capture his personality. Various poses present different emotions.

The Jacket was a trial painting folds in fabric, so I had to keep it fairly realistic. When I look at colours, I can see shades of other colours depending on how the light is falling on the subject. 

Where Alf's fur is black, there are hues of blue, and his brown patches contain oranges and reds.

I find his nose challenging. Were I to paint it in blacks, it would not hold its form. Blues and other hues are needed. I'm getting close to representing it in the third portrait (in progress)

In most of Alf's portaits, there is evidence of a Fauvist approach.

So, I would say that I am influenced by Fauvism, but not to the exclusion of other great artist's styles. I don't consciously set out to paint something 'in the style of', apart from the very first watercolour I did during an Art Class. Monet's Westminster Bridge, Sunset.

I have always had a love of learning. I'm keen to learn as much as I can from others. So, thank you, Tony, for putting a name to the style of some of my paintings.

 

Rhapsody in Bluebells

 

This photo of Hitch Wood was taken in 2014. There were lots of others. This one, in particular, makes me think of Tall Ships floating on water, the leaves the rigging.

I tried to turn the photograph into something that gave this impression to the viewer. After a few attempts, I decided I needed to take out the red, and concentrate on the blues and greens.

I finally decided on this version. 

Day 1 05/05/2022

I started painting in Get Painting Group. By the end of the session, I decided it needed to be bigger than A4.

Day 2 06/05/2022

Started again on A3 300 GSM / 140 lb, Cold Pressed (NOT), Textured - Heavyweight Watercolour Paper

Wet on wet green and blue for background. Started sketching the tree outlines.

Day 3 

Not much progress. Struggling with getting the mauve and blue of the bluebells mixed.

Lost track of days spent on this, because of learning curve for the caravan, and then the very hot weather.

New Day 1 July in Suffolk

Had to re-think the technique for this as the water-colours have dried. Using both wet in dry and wet on wet.

New Day 2 July at home

Started to push trees into the background in preparation for structure of branches.

New Day 3 August 10 at home

Filling in the background and started the branches.

New Day 4 August 11 at home

Adding structure to the background

 

and started the woodland floor.

Adjusting the trees in the background 

and smoothing out the woodland floor.

Looking back, I should have laid a ground for the background woods and floor. It needs some more tweaking to bring it together.

New Day 5 at home August 12th

Calling this finished. I think I'll varnish it, although it's a watercolour. The satin varnish makes it look wet and so the colours zing.