From Camera to Canvas

A few months ago I wrote an entry advocating the carrying of a camera as often as possible, since you never know when you will meet with a striking view. In many ways, that post was as much for myself as it was for you! Sometimes I need a little help with practicing what I preach and putting my thoughts down in writing seems to help. With all that said, it seems only fitting that I follow up with some fruits of my camera-toting labor.



The painting included with this post was painted over the weekend from a photo I shot on Friday afternoon. As I mentioned in the "Shutterbuggin'" post, the benefits of having a camera on hand often come when you least expect them. On this particular Friday afternoon I was running some errands for the office and, as usual, eyeing God's beauty all around. Especially interesting to me were the incredible cumulus clouds luminated by the late afternoon sun on its trek westward.

I slowed as I turned into a residential section of town with a variety of trees, including a modest sized fir tree that caught my eye. The patterns of the boughs silhouetted against the bright, hazy sky was beautiful. How fortunate that I had my camera with me! Two clicks and five seconds later I had a nice image for the idea file. One that I liked so much, in fact, it jumed to the front of the line on Saturday afternoon and got itself painted.

Worth noting here is how I went about referencing the photo as I painted the painting. I wanted the outcome to be a "fresh" and expressive painting. The ideal way to achieve this goal would be to paint en plein air. I love to do this, but because of the location (private property) and the fact that everyone at the office would notice if I was gone for three or more hours (at least I assume they would :-)), this option was ruled out by default.

I opted not to print the photo, but rather to view it only for a moment or two from the luminous view screen on the back of my camera. This may seem a little silly but the truth is, using the original image in my minds eye, combined with the occasional "refresher" glance from the camera, helped me to put down as much information as I could as quickly as I could. I didn't want to lose the overall essence and mood of the afternoon, and painting from memory is such a nice way to capture the emotions of a scene and not just the details. Edgar Degas said it better than I..."It is all very well to copy what one sees, but it is far better to draw what one now only sees in one's memory. That is a transformation in which imagination collaborates with memory."