Summer – Christchurch Harbour, acrylic, 14×16in (35.5×40.5cm).
The one abiding memory of my walk on this particularly hot day was a shimmering heat haze. How to best convey it? The painting consists of mainly golds, blues and greens. Paint was applied horizontally and vertically with a 1½in flat brush. I used ultramarine and magenta for the deep blues, cerulean and cobalt for the cooler ones, and pure cadmium yellow for the golds. After the initial layers had dried the overlaying colours were dragged over in dry paint, so that underlying colours showed through. Dry, broken colour was the best way to achieve the effect of a heat haze
‘Art only begins where imitation ends’ so said Oscar Wilde, and I wholeheartedly agree with him. I see many paintings where the artist has been too literal and it is obvious they are done from photographs. Although technically sound what they lack, and what separates the wheat from the chaff so to speak, is passion, energy and vitality.