Lamarche Farm Series

 

Friends of the family, the Lamarches moved from Quebec to Somerstown Ontario to live on a farm for several decades. We would drive out to the farm during the summer which was loads of fun as little kids. As my interest in painting from photo was growing, I took a bunch of pictures on one of our trips and then made a series of paintings. They bought one painting of their horse. In this one, the old tractor seems to be holding up the barn, or maybe the other way around?

 Lamarche Farm, Tractor and Barns, 9 x 12" cold press, watercolour, 1993 (No. 0102)

When Guy saw this one he told me the barns looked too good, the roof lines were too straight compared to real life! It looks like I spent a lot of time on the sky and the field though, it is over worked. The painting is actually a bit brighter than it seems here, but there are those really dark almost sepia areas that I was trying to create in order to copy the photograph. It would be another 3 years before I did paintings on location. 

 Lamarche Farm, Barns, 12 x 16" cold press, watercolour, 1993 (No. 0031)

 

 

This is my favorite of the lot, it shows their old farmhouse which had been modified by a summer kitchen on the left, and a sun room on the front. Also my favorite because it shows two of their dogs one standing at the front door, and the other laying down behind the white wicker chair. The barns are tucked away in the background.

Lamarche Farm House, 12 x 16" cold press, watercolour, 1993 (No. 0006)

 

The roof lines on the barns are decidedly crooked here just like he asked for! You can also see Guy with his Kenora Dinner Jacket on ( red plaid jacket), tending to the cows. It was over cast that day but the roofs of the barns were providing a great contrast in value and shape. As a side note I find the greens really interesting here, it is a mix of burnt sienna and phthalo green. I was wondering when I starting using this combination.

Guy Lamarche with Cows, 7 x 11" cold press, watercolour, 1993 (No. 0095)

For the last painting I am showing an imaginary painting inspired by the Lamarche farm series. There is a strong light source maybe a sunset or sunrise illuminating one face of the barn. When composing scenes like this I sometimes put a lone tree, you see it on the left of the painting, like a blackened burnt tree trunk. I did this to stop 'the eye' from drifting off the composition, to keep you focused on the center of interest. Another example is in an old Bolton camp painting from the same era. It was not a bad idea, but the best guide for composition is the landscape itself, which can not be appreciated from photographs or conjured up from the imagination.

Sunset Barns, 9 x 12"cold press, watercolour, 1993 (No. 0094)