I started this painting in 2015. It was from a photograph I took at a family reunion the previous summer in New Brunswick. At 36″ x 48″ it was extremely awkward to work on in my tiny shed studio.
I never got very far with it at that time beyond a very loose rough-in, getting in place the various elements of the picture and seeing if the colours would initially work together. I’m not entirely sure what happened to halt that work — I have vague recollections of being overwhelmed trying something this ambitious while juggling the responsibilities of my day job.
There is a certain satisfaction in doing smaller pictures that can be completed within a relatively short time frame. This, by contrast, was going to be a long slog.
So it sat for a decade, the image facing the wall.
While most of the adults at that reunion roamed around the cottage and deck overlooking the river, the kids were all down at the dock, no doubt hoping that they would get another spin on the tube. To me the image captured the summers I so loved in my youth.
Our granddaughter, who is at the center of the tube, was eight at the time. She just recently graduated from high school. I was starting to get pointed remarks about finishing it before she retired. Not that this was ever meant to be a portrait. My spouse says the kids are not recognizable, which suits me just fine. It’s about adventure and summer, not about the individuals. We had a brief discussion on the difference between figurative work and portraiture.
Working in a shed studio that’s eight by twelve feet, I found new tricks to get perspective on this piece as I moved to finish it. That included taking pictures with my phone to see what I might see had I had the ability to walk back about ten to fifteen feet.
I also bought a better overhead work light, which helped to be able to see what I was doing in a pure white light. I no longer take a painting out into the daylight to be disappointed by all the flaws I couldn’t see from working in a more subdued light.
The opportunity to work larger also meant that I could play a lot more with the painted surface, giving it a bit more energy than would be otherwise possible with a smaller canvas. There were numerous challenges, including the intertwining and positioning of all the kids as well as capturing their colourful swimsuits.
I knew that when I came back to putting serious time into painting, that I would initially start small, get some paintings complete, then gradually work into some larger pieces, including finishing this one.
Working on this painting also got me out of the habit of using tiny brushes. I have a bad habit of taking on an image with the smallest of brushes then wonder a) why it is taking so long and b) why I’m wearing out these brushes so quickly.
Tomorrow we’ll look at the third painting that I resurrected from my past — this one an actual portrait from 2006. While I have had several good sessions on it, I’m not convinced it is there yet.
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