The Inspiration Behind My Paintings (Part Two)

Whether I am painting a specific scene (en plein air) on location or back in the studio, I usually refer to a few of the photos that I took to guide my composition of the painting. If I do not complete the painting on location, I may add some finishing touches in the studio. Or, I may pull out some reference photos of a specific location at some later date and create a painting from those photos.

When using reference photos, I rarely transfer the composition or details to the painting in the same way that they appear in the photos. I don’t want the painting to be an exact copy of the photo. I want to be able to express my artistic influences to create an original painting that evokes the kind of connection and emotion that you cannot usually feel from a photograph.

I will sometimes slightly change the composition from the photo, adding, subtracting, or rearranging, to create a stronger composition in the painting. I sometimes enhance or exaggerate a color from the photo to create a more energizing or more peaceful painting.

You can see from the comparison of this reference photo of Sarasota Bay and the painting that I created en plein air, Sarasota Sail, how I changed a few things like the lights and darks of the painting as well as exaggerating some of the colors. The original is available at: Sarasota Sail

Comparing this next reference photo of North Lido Beach in Sarasota to the actual painting, I stayed pretty close to the composition. However, I felt that I needed to “warm” the colors in the painting to create a more pleasing visual experience. I also wanted to simplify the composition to create a more isolated mood by removing some of the little details that you see in the photo. The original is available at: All to Myself

Hopefully, this brief show and tell will provide additional insight into the inspiration and creative process behind my paintings.

Have a great holiday weekend,

Alan

The Inspiration Behind My Paintings (Part One)

I often take my painting equipment with me when I go on tropical vacations. There are times when I sit on the beach or in a chair and paint right on location. Other times I take photos and create the painting back in my studio. In either case, the true inspiration comes from the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of the tropical environments.

While going through some reference photos recently, I thought that I would show you some examples of the actual scenes and the paintings that sprung out of them.

We begin with my location on Magens Bay beach, where I painted plein air. I'm holding the resulting painting (Tree at Magens Bay).  The original is available at: Tree at Magens Bay

Tree at Magens Bay by Alan Zawacki

A photo of a small deserted island ocean pool in the Exumas (Bahamas) and my interpretation of the scene (Ocean Pool). The original is available at: Ocean Pool

Ocean Pool by Alan Zawacki

A photo of a terrace scene in St. Thomas and the resulting plein air painting (South Terrace Blossoms) created on location. The original is available at: South Terrace Blossoms

South Terrace Blossoms by Alan Zawacki

And lastly, I snapped this photo on Siesta Key Beach, Florida one day as a little girl searched through the shallow water.

 And, my painting – Siesta Key Searching. The original is available at: Siesta Key Searching

Siesta Key Searching by Alan Zawacki

I continue to be captivated by the beautiful little things in tropical places. I want to capture then all.

Stay tuned for Part Two of The Inspiration Behind My Paintings in the near future.

Have a great weekend,

Alan