My inspiration is nature. It began with a passion for green, which I was able to nurture in my cabbage paintings, and which has now expanded to include all colors and shades found in nature. I spend a lot of time out and about with my camera. My passion for flora stems from a feeling of longing. It’s always as if being outside isn’t enough. I am in the forest, in the field, in the grass, and somehow there remains a sense of longing to be able to immerse myself more deeply in the outdoors. I take this longing with me to my studio, and I try to create my own invented piece of nature. I do this in the hope that one day, one of my paintings will do justice to this feeling of longing.

First Light, oil on Dibond, 30 x 20" (76 x 50 cm)

 

Over the years, I have photographed thousands of small and tiny objects such as leaves, flowers, beetles and stones. I have a collection of approximately 24,000 images of things in nature that have attracted my interest.

My Vision of Hope, oil on Dibond, 59 x 39" (149 x 99 cm)

 

Gunnera, oil on Dibond, 47 x 31" (119 x 78 cm)

 

From this collection of fragments from nature, I then create my own composition. This process is always difficult because I am never sure whether my composition will work, and I usually don’t have another plan for a different painting up my sleeve. Once I have gathered my ideas, I wait a few weeks to make sure that my interest and enjoyment of my composition will withstand the next six to eight months of painting.  

My Art in the Making Brassica

Composing My Vision

 

On a virtual canvas measuring 59 x 36", I place more than a thousand individual objects such as beetles, leaves, flowers, etc. I don’t think in terms of composition or color rules. I create my own nature according to my taste and emotions.

 

On average, I must revise a composition design five to seven times before I am satisfied. This can sometimes lead to serious doubts as to whether it will work at all. I often give up and start over. Once I am satisfied with the design, I begin the tedious task of adjusting the shadows and light throughout the image, as each flower was photographed under different lighting conditions.

 

Sometimes I take individual cabbage leaves and create my own composition of cabbages.

 

Stage 1   Preparing the Canvas

I paint on aluminum composite material like Dibond. I prepare the canvas by sanding the surface and then cleaning it with isopropyl alcohol. Using a paint roller, I apply approximately five layers of gesso, each with a fine sanding in between. This gives me an absorbent, very finely structured surface. I achieve the fine surface by rolling back and forth and diagonally for a long time after applying the gesso, without putting any weight on the roller. This makes the drying layer increasingly fine in structure. I color the last layer of gesso with burnt umber to obtain a medium base on which I can assess the tonal values.

 

Stage 2  Charcoal Grid

The grid in white charcoal is important because I don’t make elaborate drawings, and sometimes I don’t draw anything at all. This way, I can always paint an object larger or smaller without changing the entire image.

 

Stage 3  Areas of Color

In this next step, I simply paint areas of color and place them roughly next to each other. This takes a bit of courage, as it often looks wrong and rough. I concentrate on painting exactly what I see and not what I think should be there.

 

Stage 4  Blending

Here comes a very satisfying step: blending the tones. I really enjoy doing this, but even today I still find it difficult to keep the dark tones as pure as possible and not lighten them too much while blending with light tones. To make the blending easier, I rarely use titanium white, as it is too strong for darker colors. 

 

Stage 5   Veins of Leaves

I use a narrow old brush to roughly draw in the leaf veins. I simply dip the brush into a puddle of paint so that the paint application is irregular. The strokes can be wide or narrow. I try not to exercise too much control.

 

Stage 6  Deepening Shadows in Leaves

In this next, very important step, I deepen the dark shadows in the leaf veins. In my mind, I follow the three-dimensional structure of the leaves to see where the shadows fall.

 

Stage 7  More Light and Shadow

Using a brush dipped in several shades of green, I add more light and shadows with dabbing movements. I love these imprecise, random processes that bring the leaf to life.

 

Stage 8  Tiny Details

As I near the end of the painting, I add small details such as holes, gnawed spots or dirt on the leaves.

 

Stage 9   Zooming Out

Here is a more zoomed out view as I work on the final details of the painting.

 

Stage 10  Finished Artwork

Brassica, oil on Dibond, 59 x 39" (149 x 99 cm)