Friday, July 17, 2009

Skying

Summer Skies
4 x 12


"I have done a good deal of skying, for I am determined to conquer all difficulties, and that among the rest."

John Constable, October 1821

As regular readers of this blog know, John Constable, the great 19th century English landscape painter, is a major source of inspiration to me. I've written about him here , and even named a storage area in my studio for large canvases the Constable Closet. Constable was one of the first artists to make plein air sketching part of his regular working process. During the summer months, he would leave his studio in London and roam the Suffolk countryside. He had a particular interest in skies and today his on the spot sketches (annotated on the back with date, time and weather conditions) are among his most compelling works.

So, in homage to Constable and the season, for the next little while, I'll be painting and posting sky studies. These small works are not meant to be finished pieces, just research and development (R&D). Like Constable, I hope they will bring greater power, authenticity and feeling to the work I do in the studio.

6 comments:

Erin said...

So inspiring! And this sky study is beautiful...finished or not!

Dale Sherman Blodget said...

Lovely and peaceful sky. A great summer project. But the image on the blog is so SMALL....

Deborah Paris said...

Thank you Erin!

You're right Dale- I just made it larger. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

You would love where I live in Suffolk, Constable country. I can see the places he painted, see his originals and studio, even his palette of colours. See my blog. I think your sky is very well done.

Giselle C. Gautreau said...

Hi Deborah!

I'm coming out of lurking to say hello and tell you how much I enjoy your work. Your paintings are beautiful! I'm looking forward to your sky studies.

Giselle

Deborah Paris said...

Wow, Carolann! You are lucky- I would love to be able to actually visit those places.

Glad you de-lurked Giselle and welcome!