Lake scene (2016)Gouache painting
by Stephen Abela

A lake scene derived from a vintage postcard of a New York or Pennsylvania resort.
I like the nostalgia this scene evokes as well as the bright colours and contrasts.

Although I can succumb to it at times, I do not like the idea of slavishly copying photographs, as this process can become a formulaic and banal practice. Generally, I attempt to not just simply reflect on a pre-manufactured scene. I enhance and manipulate the colour, using an impressionistic colour palette in many of the paintings, by incorporating complementary colours; ocean, pool, tree and plant hues used as a back drop to skin tones and bright contrasting parasols. I alter the texture and composition of the original image, to describe the general sense of the scene as I imagine it. I bring out aspects in the image that convey, to me, a feeling that more closely relates to what I think of as a purer, more direct pleasure; There is always an element of chance and intuition in my work. Ultimately, I do not follow a particular prescribed working process too closely and generally try to avoid preconceptions about what I am doing.

Materials used:

paper, graphite, gouache

Details:

• Gouache painting on Paper
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 30.48 x 22.86 x 0.25cm (unframed) / 17.78 x 12.7cm (actual image size)
• Signed on the front
• Style: Impressionistic
• Subject: Landscapes, sea and sky

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