Photograph (2a)
On a trip to Italy about ten years ago, I was of
course snapping the vast Tuscan landscape at every
turn. Yet it was the simple shapes within the
landscape that most attracted me. One photo I took
was far from a great photo, yet I was mesmerized by
the soft texture and tone of the olive trees pitched
against the darker, more imposing cypress trees.
Image (2a) shows the photo behind the start of Olive
and Cypress.
After deciding on my cropped composition, I
started with a charcoal and acrylic paint drawing (2b).
In keeping with my exploration of light against dark, I
created my own dramatized lighting. I was pretty
happy with this drawing. It captured the essence of
the light and texture in the scene, as well as the
movement that I see in light. I did in fact see this
drawing as so complete, that I didn‟t try painting it for
a few years.
Drawing (2b)