How to Cope with isolation!
Isolation Excitement, creative ideas! I am a ‘plein air’ artist, which means that unlike most other artists, I prefer to work out doors, on location. So you can imagine my disappointment to wake up and be told we have to self isolate, to stay safe. Shock, Horror, it took a while to assimilate this and to work out new ways of working.
Here is an image of me in a friend’s studio painting a still life, before the lockdown.
Click on the photo to go to our plein air Fb group page.
So the only way an artist can cope is to get creative and that’s just what I am doing. I began with some still life oil paintings of daffodils and roses in antique jugs and vases, shown in my last blog post. Click here
Next I decided that now was a good time to recall my last painting trip to Venice, and particularly a memorable view from the hotel roof on a warm sunny late afternoon day, looking towards St Marks and the church of Santa Maria de la Salute in the distance. On the right is a large oil on canvas and below, a watercolour.
These were painted from sketches and notes made at the time, on location, and I have tried to capture that special light which Venice has in abundance, which attracts artists from all over the world.
Paintings or sketches made from real life, on location, or table top still life subjects, uses and tests all the traditional skills of observation, measuring, proportion and perspective, as well as identifying precise tonal values. So any time spent practicing these skills, is time well spent.
Here is another oil painting which I worked up from an earlier oil sketch, and is another favourite spot, Fondamento Dandolo, near the Ospedale. It shows a gondolier at rest in a typical canal side scene.
Here is a still life subject for you. I enjoyed working on this in the studio. A selection of antique glass bottles, a stoneware jug and a box of pea soup. A subject with shiny reflections, deep shadows, and writing, all of which can be challenging when using oil paints.
I’ll finish with an interior location painting of our lounge in the afternoon, when the sunlight streams in and leaves shadows on the carpet.
Next Time – Paint your pets, more interior paintings, and some garden paintings, all created during enforced isolation,
Having a creative skill is a great way to counteract negative feelings and thoughts, so even if you don’t think you are creative, just give it a go, it’s free (almost) and still legal!