When Was it Painted?
February 2010
My Oldest/First Painting
The Ida Mountain Range in Central Otago New Zealand. Oil on Canvas. 21 cm (8.4 inches) x 48 cm (19 inches)
What I Remember About It
I just went out and got a canvas not even knowing what I was going to paint, the paints I had purchased two years previously but had not built up the courage to have a go. I selected my subject from a photograph I had taken on a trip to the South Island, New Zealand.
The subject did not fit on the canvas so I just left a big gap of white on the top and bottom then when it dried I removed the canvas from the frame altered the frame and stretched the canvas back on. (Working back to front.)
The difficulty I had mixing the colours especially building up the correct colour from the likes of Sap Green which I had rather than mixing a green from blues and yellows.
This was the first ever go. I have since painted several others (not of the same subject) and I can see a gradual improvement with each one its becoming quite exciting. This painting is in the cupboard down stairs.
Advice
- I would plan my painting and work out what size the canvas needed to be before I started.
- I would pre-prime my canvas to a colour either the same or similar to the largest area of the subject.
- I would make a bigger effort in getting the shadow areas right as well as the clouds.
- I would also put more effort into detailing the willow trees in the foreground.
