Thoughts On My Painting "The Conductor"

Before a seasoned fiction writer starts to put their thoughts on paper, they’ve thought through things like character development, plot, all of those things, and have a pretty good idea of who these characters are and where they want the story to go. But I’m pretty sure there are times when the characters in their manuscript almost seem to tell the author where the story is going to go, and how they’re going to interact with each other. I can just imagine some author scratching their head and say, “Wow, I didn’t see that coming!” 

More than once I’ve had that exact experience when I’m starting out on a new painting. Some paintings I have an excellent idea from the beginning of exactly where I want to go. Perhaps I’m working directly from a photograph I’ve taken, or I talk to an old feller, and he tells me a story and right away that story tells me what direction the painting will go. Other times I start out with just a thought -  or half a thought… maybe just a title, and that will be my stepping off point. When that happens, the painting process can be somewhat arduous and drawn out as I begin to put paint to canvas, and the painting begins to tell me how it should be. 

Winston Churchill, a painter in his own right, was once asked why he didn’t paint portraits. He quipped something along the lines of, “I’ve never had a tree tell me I didn’t get it right.“ Well, lucky him… I have had trees tell me I didn’t get them right!

This painting, The Conductor, argued with me from the very get-go. I did use a couple photos for inspiration and direction, but as I began to work, some things didn’t look right and I made changes and then I made more changes and as I finally progressed into getting somewhere with the painting. It looked radically different than what I originally thought it would. Yes, it can be a frustrating experience, but I usually enjoy the process and watching the painting become what it wants to be.

For instance, I re-drew the tree three or four times (after he pointed out in no uncertain terms that I had gotten him all wrong.) I spent an hour blocking it in only to discover that that wasn’t the right tree (he was too wimpy!) I had to draw a couple more times until I finally got the tree looking the way he wanted to look - sturdy, strong, manly. Well, Treely. A powerful sentinel overlooking his kingdom. I also decided it was in the wrong place, and had to uproot the poor bugger and move him over to the right a little bit. (And for those of you who are wondering why I call my tree a "him"… Well, I really don’t know if it is him or her… I just didn’t know where to look to figure that out.) Maybe having four brothers influenced me there...

The clouds were also interesting to work on, and they took me quite a while, trying to build up those layers and the puffiness and the sense of energy in the storm roiling up before you. 

One of the early renderings there was going to be a range of hills in the background, and autumn field in the mid foreground - "But", said my opinionated rendering, it was "too flat and boring" (I found that rude and vaguely offensive, but I let it go). Fortunately I live in an area of rolling Hills, went out with my camera and got to the top of the hill and took some photos and realized what was needed was a valley with farms down below to give a sense of depth. 

Eventually things began to come together, and I saw where the painting wanted to go. That’s when it gets really fun - when the painting stops complaining and you know where you wanna go and you’re on the right track. 

Christopher