Had an interestingly tutorial today which led to thoughts about these two images. One is of one of the many observational drawings made during the recent residency at Brisons Veor in Cornwall. Impressed by the incredible geology and landscape ….I just didn’t know where to start and wanted to draw everything I saw. I began a painting from this sketch while I was still in Cornwall but on returning home decided that it was too figurative so began to alter the balance of shapes to form a better composition. My memory of the rich iron ore deposits leaching into the granite had to be present. I often use a blue/orange palette and this just felt right here. The top of the painting was too busy and needed a strong light blue element. I realised that sticking to the representational drawing wasn’t working. The drawing was a reasonable starting-point but it’s conversion into paint just didn’t look right. The balance was all wrong. Gradually the painting started to evolve into something else. I’m not sure it’s quite finished yet. The orange flash is now too dominant and needs to take a quieter space within the canvas.
I think it was necessary to make the observational sketch but not to slavishly follow it. The memories of sounds of the waves in the background almost push me to simplify the composition and to instill more light than was actually conveyed by the sketch. The drawing acts as a visual prompt but the painting needs other sensory memories to complete the image.
