Landscape Painting - Idea

This blog is going to be the first in a random assemblage of posts that I'm calling Landscape Painting. I intend to show the progression of a piece and ramble a bit about the painting or some aspect of the painting or landscape painting in general.

Morning Hillside (8x8) by M Francis McCarthy

First off this painting is currently on display at Helena Bay Galley a beautiful gallery in a beautiful spot. The scene is very Northland New Zealand. That said it could also be anywhere, at least I try to imbue that quality into my work.

I am often asked in my studio at the Quarry Arts Center where a scene is. What place, country or region am I depicting? I often reply that the scene is imagined. As this is true to a large degree, though there may indeed be a specific place that inspired the painting.  

I am not trying to be coy. The real truth is that I have created a Painting and though I may have used photos or drawings done from a site I feel no obligation and have no desire to depict an actual place. The photos and drawings are a prelude to the point of the painting which IS the Painting not the scene itself or the process that birthed it.

Morning Hillside  (5x7) by M Francis McCarthy

That said I will sometimes say "Oh yeah, that's over there on Choctaw ridge" or something to that effect. Because to say all I have to say about that simple query will exhaust the patience of a causal apprehender.

  

What I'm more interested in is connecting the viewer with a created space that's acting as a window or portal. The space is empty so that it can be filled, by the viewer. There are traces sometimes of others. Like a road or a path but they're are no others here just the view and the viewer.

I also intend to relax the viewer I want them to be in a mellow state with the painting. I like to think of the painting as a refuge for the weary. A place to spread a blanket and chill out. But even more to be in nature even if it's nature of their own creation.

I guess there's lot's of philosophy in this post but philosophy "is" painting in many ways. Some of the greatest philosophers painted and visa versa .

Morning Hillside  (sketch) by M Francis McCarthy

This sketch was done with my Wacom tablet in Photoshop. For me these type of sketches are just about planes (dividing the space) and composition. I make few efforts to treat them as real drawings. I will often project this type of image onto my wood panel and do a lot more creative drawing there, adding shadows and mass to the landscape. I usually wait till that stage to flesh out the drawing just to keep the process fresh at each stage of the paintings evolution.