Janet is currently studying on our Watercolour Diploma Course tutored by Steven Hersey. Steven said…
I think Janets painting is superb. A great example of skill and vision in the composition and painting qualities. A view of a holiday scene, I believe, taken in India. I loved the maturity of approach and the sound technical abilities in the application of the medium. Great control and skill.
Janet sent the following text to Steven which explains a little about the painting……
I had painted this scene before from a photograph I had taken of an Indian market.. I sketched it the first time but this second time I just drew it with my brush. I wanted to exaggerate the difference between the foreground and the background through the use of tone and colour. The focal point is around the first lady with the metal vessels. It was very hot with a sharp bright light and intense shadows.
I left out a lot of the background for this image and all people except the three women. There is a slight grey image of the boy and the wagon behind the scene, but that is all. I made the figures faceless because I did not want the women to be the characters of the painting. It was about the foreground to background, light and the shape of the market stalls as a triangle. The eye is led across the picture off to the right, but the change of focus keeps the viewer anchored to the left. The foreground of brown was mottled with salt.
Tone and colour were important in this image as sharp tone in the front brings this part to the foreground and helps to give the feeling of a sharp hot light with a haze as the image tails off to the right. Hard edges of the metal pots with soft edges of the distant fruit and the contrast with the canopy give this depth. Very pleased with this image and feel this has been improved since the first one was painted. I used Paynes Grey, Winsor Red, Winsor Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, White Gouache for the bracelets and on the metal pot.
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