Four Rods on the Arun

This painting was a product of my memories/photos of a walk in the height of summer along the banks of the Arun near Burpham, West Sussex.

I had spent a couple of afternoons painting on ‘plein air’ in this beautiful valley and wanted to return to become more familiar with it. Like the Chinese artists, I blend first-hand experience of the landscape with evocative memory. Chinese landscape artists would often take walks in the countryside then return to their studios and, while mixing their paints, they would meditate on the scenes inscribed in their memory.

Here is one of the photographs from this walk which helped to inspire the painting.

This painting combines landscape with figurative painting and was directly influenced by the composition and techniques of the work of American artist Andrew Wyeth.

Piers Ottey of The Mill Studio near Arundel introduced me to Andrew Wyeth’s work by showing me the catalogue from the exhibition: An American Vision : Three Generations of Wyeth Art.

I loved the modern, realistic style and the technical skill of Andrew’s watercolours and tempera work. I was so inspired, that I purchased Andrew’s autobiography from Amazon where I have reviewed the book under the pseudonym ‘Ginger Lily’ - (sorry but I have a horror of identity fraud and sign myself under various names across the internet!).

I also made the effort to go to the English version of this exhibition being staged at the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

I had explored ‘dry brush’ before but came to it again with renewed vigour.
In this painting, Four Rods on the Arun I have contrasted loose ‘wet-in-wet’ for the river with the more controlled application used for the figure and the extremely detailed ‘dry brush’ technique of the foreground. illustrated in this detailed section:

The composition has been designed to suggest an almost surreal, dream-like quality by combining the realism of the angler and the foreground with the almost abstract interpretation of the reeds on the far bank.

This watercolour painting (24x31cm) is for sale mounted but unframed for £85.00 (plus p&p) and offers a considerable saving on the price I will have to ask once it is framed and exhibited.

If you would like to buy this painting please contact me using the form on my website or by telephone on 023 9213 7595. Payment is via Paypal or cheque.