Pastiche of Francis Towne, and Saturday notes....

I've not worked on the Rain Man for a few days but will tonight. For now, I wanted to post the pastiche I've finished for June's Landscape Study Group's work by Francis Towne. I joined the group two or three weeks ago and just finished this up. (It was supposed to be done by June 30. Insert a shame-faced smiley here!)

When I did a colour correction in PhotoShop on the original, I found the colours to be more alive. Probably more like he painted it. I think it's probably faded a bit over the many, many, MANY years since he painted it. So, I worked from the colour corrected version. Below, on the left is the original and on the right, is the colour corrected version that I kind of like better.

This piece is titled, "The Source of the Arveiron: Mont Blanc in the Background" and was painted in September 1781, 42x31cm. 1781! That's a long time ago! If you'd like to read more on the artist and the painting, you can click here: ttp://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/artist49.html

I've learned a lot from painting this. This is a great way to learn - copying from the works of the Masters. Here's my version:

I didn't do the ink on the mountain in the background and that ice flow river gave me a great amount of grief but while painting this, it was very easy to put myself in Towne's shoes. I could almost feel his thoughts while painting it!

Painted on Arches (of course!) 140 lb cold pressed paper, 1/4 sheet. (Though the painting does not take up the full 1/4 sheet. I kept room for experimenting with colour in the margins.)

July's artist of the month in the Watercolor Landscape Study Group is Winslow Homer and the painting we're painting is called The Guide. Should be fun and quite a learning experience.

Now, to get back to the Rain Man!

Have a great weekend!