It is always special to see real paintings in a gallery as opposed to seeing images of paintings on the computer screen, smart phone, or even an art book. I had studied Vincent van Gogh in high school and of course seen his work in various reproductions, but it was not until our recent trip to Amsterdam that I got the chance to see his paintings up close in the Van Gogh museum, or at least as up close as you can get in a crowded museum! When I saw his paintings in real life I appreciated what he had done with the colours and brush work. I also noticed that he had a particular way of giving each part of the painting a sense of life, whether it was a tree, a mountain, the sky, a hay field, the sun, a sunflower. When we got back from the museum it was raining a little bit but I was determined to go out and use something of what I had learned from seeing van Gogh's work. In this small watercolour the trees are shown along the canal (which you can not see in this view it is behind the berm of grass) each with its own character. Its like the trees could walk off on their own! The green of the grass is more luminescent than it was in real life, and the red of the roof gives it a nice complementary colour. The tree leaves are infused with green, orange, and a variety of yellows. For good measure I included an ever-present cyclist whipping by on a bike path so fast that I could only capture the back wheel. I kept the figure simple and almost all black which is the way van Gogh painted his figures. It is not signed because the rain picked up and I had to get out of there. The other cool thing is that I stupidly forgot to bring water with me, so I used some water from a nearby puddle to make this painting, there was a bit of sand in it. A real Amsterdam painting through and through.
5.5 x 7.5 " hot press, Watercolour, September 6
th 2018
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