I hope the painting wasn’t created by someone who had attended one of my outdoor painting courses! I often encourage students to pay scant regard to what is actually there and ‘feel free’ to move things around for a better composition. At Waxham following a request from a student to create a Seagoesque sketch, I swapped over two farmhouses to create a much more traditional Norfolk landscape. (see piccy)
I discovered artsts do this many years ago on a trip to Venice clutching a book of Turner’s paintings. Could I heck as like find half of the view points Turner had painted! As he had freely moved things around I felt this gave us all the freedom to take liberties and transform the mundane into the attractive. Recently Francesco da Mosto also tried to find Turner's viewpoints and failed and he's a local! So now I take great satisfaction in fooling people of the future by creating paintings and not copies of a landscape..after all that’s what camera obscurers were invented for. So I hope the Bushy gardeners don’t take the paintings too seriously!
You may be surprised to hear I’m old enough to teach artists from the 18thC. but I’ve just had a confirmation for a booking for a workshop at the end of the month telling me that I can get a pensioner’s discount at the local pub!!
If you want to join me in Norfolk next year, visit my website www.timfisherartist.co.uk.
It's quite funny really when you think about using a work of art as a restoration guide, especially when you consider the artistic license employed by the masters!
ReplyDeleteThe spot near Flatford Mill where John Constable painted the Haywain is only a few miles from where I live, so I'm just going to have to pay it a visit. I'll take a photocopy of the painting with me so I can find out for myself if Constable employed any artistic licence in his painting!
Lovely article, many thanks for sharing
Ian