Monday, February 8, 2010

Paul Lewin - British 1967-

Carn Trevean Cove, Cornwall,
34 x 34 cm,
mixed media on paper












The artist has rendered the cliffs in loose, transparent washes; the water in fine, clear, solid detail. Too much fussy detail in the cliffs would only compete with the detail of white foam and reflections, reducing the impression of dazzling, moving water. Indistinctness also gives the impression of distance and immensity to the cliffs. The background washes are probably watercolour; the bright white areas could be gouache or acrylic. These contrasting textures can also be achieved in oils with the use of solvents to create washes.
Check out this artist's website here.

Of his working method the poet Christine Evans has written:

His relationship with landscape is intense; he seems absorbed, almost subsumed into it, driven by a restless energy that is characteristic of the sort of places he is drawn to - the extreme edges of land, jutting promontories and tidal shores where frontiers between land and sea are blurred and perspectives ever changing as the sky. His practice is to complete a painting at a single sitting if possible. Sometimes a piece will resolve itself quickly, in a couple of hours or so; more often, he will be working out in the open for five or six hours or until the light goes.

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