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 funny and tricky. I have put these three lovely ladies of the dyke in a dramatic twilight that one often can observe on our island. The time of the day with such a sky could be both dawn and dusk, I guess. But then I decided to put the sea on the right side of the painting, so now it could only be 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.   There is a unique spot on our island where the last dunes meet the dyke showing a bit of the beach and the Wadden Sea, with a colourful natural swampy area in between. When it's not winter, the sheep are often here to maintain the dyke. They usually lie down on the grass when the wind blows hard. This was a blustery autumn day when I took a picture. Now I wanted to paint it.   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 .