Tribute to the fall colors

“To paint freely and sketch-like, that’s what I want.”

It felt as if I was cycling through one of Monet’s od Sisley’s paintings.

The painting shown beside is a tribute to the autumn and to Impressionism.

Early one Sunday morning this fall, I was cycling along the Vecht river. I was struck by the palette of warm orange, rust brown and flaming yellow colors. It was as if the trees were on fire, and all of it was reflecting in the rippling water. I felt like I was biking through one of Monet’s or Sisley’s paintings! I found the topic or motive for my next painting right there.

With this in mind, and building on my experience with similar paintings (see pictures below) I could hardly wait to get started. I usually take a process-oriented, thoughtful and reflective approach, but this time I wanted to paint more directly and dynamically (in the so called wet-on-wet technique) – almost like making a quick charcoal sketch. It was a welcome variation.

The final painting is a result of impressions, imagination and inspiration, but I also incorporated aspects of earlier works with the same motive. Below you can see a few examples of related paintings. (Click on the pictures to see a detail)

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Fictive landscape

The location of these river landscapes is mostly fictive, and the paintings are created in the studio. The process often starts with a sketching phase, where I try to find the right composition, meaning how do I place the motive on the canvas. In the center or slightly off? With the horizon high or low or in the middle? (see sketches below). Sometimes I make notes referring to colors, and sometimes I use my own pictures of elements as reminders.

In the studioN THE STUDIO

Moving water and the reflections of trees and sky ask for a rhythmic and playful brush stroke, and the use of a brush and/or a palette knife. Above all, I need to NOT be afraid of ruining the painting. Watch the short video clip below about while I’m working on the painting here discussed.

This was a message from Lieuwe Kingma, inside the studio.

Hilversum, November 2018