Posts tagged ‘Gouache’

Jul 24

Provence Odyssey | My Journey in Paintings: Provence Patchwork

I have gone on endlessly about the Provençal landscape ever since this vast odyssey, not just across Southern France but also as depicted on this blog, first began some weeks ago, and now I will once again let my art do the talking. For somewhat suitably, as the end of the trip drew near, and four cities had been visited, I decided to start the fourth and final of the artworks completed while on our tour, this time inspired by the journey to Aix.

Taking the fast train from Avignon TGV down to Aix TGV in a mere 20 minutes meant for a lightening speed flight through the undulating topography of the Southern most reaches of the region, but it was nevertheless enough to make my eyes almost dewy with pleasure as they looked out onto the stunning scenery passing us by. The Provençal landscape is not complex, nor terribly unique – but it is beautiful nonetheless, because through the sheer beauty of a bucolic landscape marked by agricultural spaces pinned side by side and bordered by cypress trees and olives, the rolling countryside of the region looks like a patchwork quilt of earthy tones interspersed with the occasional splash of purple lavender or yellow corn.

Composition No. 5 (Provence Patchwork) (2013 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

It is this patchwork effect which inspired my final gouache work on the trip. Entitled Composition No.5 (Provence Patchwork), the work once again forms part of my Compositions series. I have used flat, blocks of colour to represent the varied agriculture of the region, and in composition have tried to represent what is almost a cubist landscape resulting from the complicated crisscross of fields and bordering trees that characterise the region. I hope you like it.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Provence Odyssey | My Journey in Paintings: Beau Les Baux (daily-norm.com)
Provence Odyssey | My Journey in Paintings: From Avignon to Arles (avec le petit dejeuner) (daily-norm.com)
Provence Odyssey | Avignon – A room with a view (daily-norm.com)

Jun 5

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Composition No. 1 (squid with patatas a lo pobre)

With Composition No.1 (squid with patatas a lo pobre), my painting has taken something of a new direction. Inspired by the simple abstract forms and “fractional modules” of Saloua Raouda Choucair, and intrigued by the medium of her choice, gauche, I have diverted from the more detailed figurative approach of my normal artwork to cleaner, simpler representational forms.

In this work, I am attempting to convey an atmosphere and an occasion: lunch by a Mediterranean beach – a dish of squid and patatas a lo pobre, the typical unctuous Spanish dish in which simple oil nourished potatoes are served with peppers and onion. I have attempted to convey the swirls of the sea, the curving delicate forms of a squid’s tentacles and the odd burst of red from the colour-rich peppers.

Composition No. 1 (Squid and patatas a lo pobre) 2013 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown (Gauche on paper)

As for gouache paint – it’s been something of a revelation. Something of a cross between watercolour and acrylic but drying matt, flowing seamlessly across the paper and easily controllable both with and without water mixed in, I’ve found it an inherently pleasurable medium with which to work. I love the flat finish, the overlapping colours, and the explosion of blues bursting across the picture. I cannot wait to work in gauche again. In fact, composition No.2 is already taking shape.