daily painting titled Towards Vaison

Towards Vaison

20cm x 12.5cm, oil on board Painting status: SOLD
Daily painting for Tuesday 8 October, 2013
Posted in Landscape paintings
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9 Comments

To Louis. Is that the place,Louis Where life is a paradise? A place were we live with serenity Where we live in peace Rediscovered at last A place where to commit evil Is impossible. I imagine a pretty shepherdess Laughing among her sheeps... And her good sheepdog dancing around them In the golden field warmed delicately By the gentle sun's rays.
Your paintings are truly an inspiration! You have the ability to capture the mood of your setting! Your composition and use of light is strong. However, todays image is a little on the dark side....
You are the Master of Shadows, Julian. I find those one of the toughest things to paint realistically! Well done! Elaine
Like the pockets of light on the left, and the deft brush work in the distance to take us through.
Dear Julian, an achingly beautiful landscape. The streaks of sunlight in the foreground, seemingly applied in rapid dashes, lifts the long shadows. Infinite sky, just a lavender grey cloud over the mountain. P.S. Alain's tender poem seeking Arcadia and addressed to a child, melts hearts! Anna.
I wonder if the lonesome tree like a christmas tree but without baubles,tinsels and fairy lights,seeming disorientated within this landscape,and soon entirely in the shade,shouldn't underline your so relevant word "achingly". Fortunately,a bright comet above the tree and close to the upper edge of the picture gives hope- a little.
Dear Alain, how strange, I now realise that somehow I ignored the unadorned "Christmas tree" and preferred to dwell on the beckoning horizon! Food for thought!!And yes, I see the comet! Anna.
I confess that I have made a mistranslation with the word "achingly",a word I didn't know before.In French equivalence,the translation is: "à pleurer" which means in fact "beautiful" and not,literally,"to cry" as I thought!But without that misinterpretation,I would never have realized that this tree was so lonely and the comet was above.
Dear Alain, the expression "achingly beautiful" is very difficult to translate! As far as I understand, the adverb describes a certain kind of "beauty", (beauty is very subjective, of course) capable of causing a much heightened emotional response (with or without tears) in the viewer or listener, verging on pain, or maybe tinged with anguish is a better way of putting it, to this add a certain amount of yearning as well. It could come across as "pretentious", but hey, who cares!? English is my second language, so sorry if I'm not very clear! Anna.