pool scene with yellow umbrella (2013)Painting by Stephen Abela

pool scene with a yellow umbrella

A slight variant on Slim Aarons quote: painting attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places almost sums itup. My painting is based on various sources, from vintage postcards, holiday photos, to film stills or a personal bank of images.
I have a particular interest in beach, pool and summer references. I like this subject-matter as it seems to allow me to deal with painting on many levels. I can play with an impressionist type colour palette, I can paint the figure. In Composition,
some beach/pool scenes are not unlike some Venetian and Baroque paintings,
Titian, Veronese..and so it has this historical dimension. I am also drawn to depictions of leisure as beach or pool is a place where people are partly naked yet unaware and in a 'natural' setting so in some way this subjectmatter is timeless. I am drawn on the otherhand to a nostalgic pleasure and it is difficult for me
to seperate the two, nostalgia from the depiction of pleasure if not impossible. This intersection is what I find interesting.

Materials used:

acrylic on jacksons premium stretched canvas

Details:

• Painting on Canvas
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 78.74 x 48.26 x 1.27cm (unframed) / 78.74 x 48.26cm (actual image size)
• Signed on the back
• Style: Photorealistic
• Subject: People and portraits