Used to be, before books, magazines and the internet, you had to trek to a location to capture a landscape to paint. And before photography, you either had to sketch, remember or paint it right on the spot, plein air.
Now you can go virtually anywhere in the world from your armchair. See the sights and vicariously experience the scene. Of course the purists will argue photos do not capture the real colour and neither can Youtube give you a sense of the sounds, smell and presence that being there can give. All true but when you can’t be there, you can be transported there with imagination, images and video.
This piece is based on a photo on pixabay by Antonios Ntoumas, a photographer living in Greece (https://pixabay.com/users/atlantios-4957810/) . He produces beautiful work, I recommend you check him out.
I usually use my own reference photos, but in this case I could not. I loved the composition and felt the peace and solitude of that place. Using this as a starting point I edited the colours to reflect my reaction to the scene and my experiences in places similar. The end result is as much my work as Antonios’. Hope you like it too.
Acrylic, 18×24 on gallery wrap canvas – $525
ISTVAN JOBST FINE ART 