Just to pass on my current thoughts ... I've been in a bit of a mental stew
lately.
I really like photography, and gave done since I was aged 12 years.
But I'd also like to be noticed locally, and making some money as well would
be nice. Neither of these has taken place. While I have not been able to put
into practice all the good advice I've had from you guys, I also cast my eyes
around.
Recently I bought a copy of the biography of a local water-colour painter;
Austen Deans. He passed away about 18 months ago aged ?? 95.
The book is "Capturing Mountains" by Nathalie Brown.
As painters go, he was near to being reviled by the "Art Community"
because he was a "representational painter", ie he loved to paint
landscapes. This is a quote from him ...
"Seeing something in Nature that intensifies my joy in being alive, I want to
try to reproduce it in such a form that when I see it again I re-live my joy at
that divine moment. By so painting I hope to share my own delight with other
people".
When he returned to NZ from WW2, he continued painting ( he had painted
all through the war, even as a POW) and started to sell. For the rest of his
life he was about to make enough money selling mainly local regional
landscapes - mainly of the mountain here that locals love - to support all his
growing family of 5 boys, his wife and himself. He was also an ardent
mountaineer, and always took his paints with him.
When I lived in Christchurch in the 1960's, I could have bought many of his
paintings but didn't because I thought then that they looked like "pot-boiler"
paintings. But they sold.
It is difficult to find copies of his work on-line now..
What he wrote and did have caused me to think pretty hard.
One of his friends and painting mates was Ben Woolcombe whose style and
subject matter are quite similar, and he also has sold many paintings.
His website is here ... http://www.http://bensart1.homestead.com/
You can see from his site how many have sold ...
I've discussed their paintings with a good friend who knows (knew) them
both, and she said to me
"I Loved this pic when I first saw it.. (attached to e-mail)
Done by Ben Woolcome some years ago
The first time I saw it is was priced at $3000...and then I saw it the other
day
at Flock Hill for $4000...
When I see this painting I can feel the land; the temperature and (recall the)
whole memory I have of this beautiful place...
I dont care if paintings look rough...........I watched Austen Deans paint and
it
was like watching something that made his heart/ life sing...satisfied his
soul..".
She is a very insightful person.
When Deans saw a scene while climbing he would take a photo (probably
B&W), then do a quick watercolour sketch on the spot ... and make the final
painting in his studio.
I'm giving serious consideration to using my photos as an aide to doing
studio watercolours for sale. It is a lot easier to get galleries to hang
paintings than photos, regardless of the quality. The kind of photography I
do can well be labelled "representational", so it can be compared with their
paintings.:
I used to do accurate technical drawing of botanical and zoological subjects
at Uni, and haven't lost the skill.. I should be able to apply that skill to
landscapes. And then learn painting skills.
If that all works, it would be another string to my bow ...
Brian Swale.
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