The thermometer in our car reliably registered 35 degrees at 11am this week as we set off for a hill walk. Oooph! That's hot! (You have guessed this was not in Fish Hoek...) and so our walk was shorter than planned. The countryside looked gorgeous as the greens were, well, very green and the sky, very blue. It was beautifully sunny but a bit too hot for a walk at that hour!
I started wondering how you convey the idea of hot and sunny in a picture. How do you get that dimension over to the viewer who is not there?
Or cold, and chilly, for that matter. Or any of the many weather conditions and our perceptions.
Hot, sunny, warm, cold, rainy, chilly, damp, wet, misty, snowy.
We had some great rainy pictures from members last year. Remember? They captured rain and the bleakness of cold weather so well. Look closely at how it is done.
Cold colours, sharp lines to indicate rain, angry brush strokes, reflections on a wet road, the clothing on the figures - all these bring the weather condition out well.
So, warm, hot, wet, rainy, snowy, misty... these are all weather condition we come across with both pleasure and irritation - but how do we put them across to others through our paintings?
It is not just the image and whether the leaves are on the trees or whether the sky is blue or grey or whether the figure is huddling under an umbrella or wrapped up in a scarf. As you see from the above cold and rainy paintings:
It is a question of hue, and strength of hue.
It is the choice of cold or warm colours
It is HOW you apply your colour or strokes
It is the amount of different colours (as opposed to a minimal palette) used.
It is the shape of the subject under the weather conditions.
It is the imagery such as the choice of clothing, leaves on trees, bare branches, trees bending under the wind, dark or light fluffy clouds etc.
The picture below - all blues and grey to complement the white snow - almost brings shivers to your skin.
Whereas the choice of right warm colours in the picture below smacks of warmth.
And when there is no colour?
How do we know it's hot?
The sharp shadows produced by blocking strong sun from the sunny sides of the figures, the type of clothing.
And another warm subject just down the road...
... that tells the story through the intense colour we associate with summer.
So, this challenge is about weather. Take an aspect of it and try, really try, to bring out the effect of the weather. Take time by thinking first, and planning. Then get to it!
Send in your pictures by the 25th of July. NOTHING BUT NEW PICTURES will be included. No recycling. This challenge is about doing a painting now.
Send you painting(s) to noninichols@gmail.com by 25 July or zwets@mweb.co.za
Happy painting and drawing.
