Well, what to say other than at 24 x 30 inches here's the largest landscape oil painting I've ever done! It took me over 2 months to complete, and it was quite the journey however, I'm glad this marathon is over and I look forward to producing smaller, more manageable pieces again.
I'm really pleased I've finally finished it. I have no idea how many hours it took. When I started landscape oil paintings I knew I had to paint Dovedale and if I was going to produce a large painting for a centrepiece then this would be it. I've visited Dovedale and the surrounding areas a whole lot growing up. I recall my first time as a kid on a church Sunday school trip racing my mates up to the top of Thorpe Cloud and feeling like I'd conquered a proper mountain. Perhaps this was the first time I recognised that I love climbing hills, something I get to do more and more of these days.
I've tried to capture the distant exposed hilltop of Thorpe Cloud and contrasted it against the safe and peaceful, idyllic nature of the river Dove. My reference photos were taken in late springtime as the afternoon sun was hitting the hillside. I did debate whether to bring the dead tree 'back to life' in the painting to bring more fullness and shades of green, but I decided that it would be cheating. In a world full of filters and trying to make everything seem perfect I like acknowledging the raw truth, much like acknowledging this sorry looking tree. It still belongs here, and it's a honest homage to the scars we carry. It still commands it's place next to the river because that's where it's rooted and it's belongs as an integral part of a masterpiece (if I do say so myself ha!).
I would be doing a disservice if I didn't mention how great the frame makes the painting look. KNK Aspley, Nottingham. Please support local business!
Thanks for reading, especially if you made it this far!
Pete
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