Valta's Blog | valta.nl

  Island sheep V And yet another one in the Sheep Series.   Experimenting with a very light background can be surprisingly amusing and challenging. I have depicted these three lovely ladies in a dramatic twilight scene, reminiscent of what one often observes on our island. The time of day with such a sky could represent either dawn or dusk; however, since I decided to place the sea on the right side of the painting, it can only be interpreted as dawn on Ameland. Good morning! Alla prima, oil, cardboard 40x32 cm. View the finished painting in my  gallery .

Island sheep IV Another one in the Sheep Series.   On our island, there's a unique spot where the last dunes meet the dyke, revealing a glimpse of the beach and the Wadden Sea, along with a vibrant, natural swampy area in between. When it's not winter, sheep often graze here to help maintain the dyke. They tend to lie down on the grass when the wind is strong. I took a picture on a blustery autumn day and decided to paint the scene.  A year later, I made slight alterations to the painting by removing the sheep in the foreground for compositional balance. Here it is, alla prima, oil, canvas 24x30 cm. View the finished painting in my  gallery .

  In touch with the void I made this painting mainly as an experiment. I wanted to see and feel how you paint on a completely transparent base. I used an unbleached linen canvas and covered it with several layers of clear gesso first. Then I painted the setting alla prima.      I am quite satisfied with the result even if I did not manage to erase the corrections of the first drawing made in burnt sienna properly. How do they do it? Perhaps one day I will find out.   I am also quite satisfied with the composition, lighting and values. As for the meaning of this painting, everyone can fill in that void for themselves. I thought it was about touching, feeling, holding and sensing. View the finished painting in  my gallery .