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| Breaking the Light by Don Demers, 24 x 36, oil painting. |
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Don Demers knows that inspiration is always there if you
know how to look for it, but he's also nobody's fool—he understands that to
create a breathtaking and moving painting you sometimes have to merge moments
together for the greatest impact.
That goes especially for seascape and landscape paintings.
It is actually really rare to witness
the kind of incredible natural beauty or breathtaking vistas that are often
depicted in landscape art and ocean paintings. To expect that kind of
excitement and power to emerge every time you set up your easel is a recipe for
disappointment. But that doesn't mean unique and powerful moments don't occur.
They just rarely share the stage with each other or, if they do, it is only for a fleeting
moment.
That's where Demers' expertise comes in. In his landscape
art, especially his seascapes, his approach is to fuse moments together for a
final painting. He'll create three or four studies while he is out and will
take them back into the studio and use the studies to create a final work. To
me, that makes a lot of sense. Painting water can be such a matter of--no pun
intended--fluidity and change, and this approach allows Demers to gets powerful
results by piecing awe-inspiring moments together. I mean, really, how could
you paint the crash and roar and glints and foamy spray of ocean shores and
river convergences any other way?
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| Touches of Autumn by Don Demers, 10 x 8, oil painting. |
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I really like this approach because it doesn't put such
pressure on me when I'm out there focusing on how to paint water. Wave
paintings, especially, need this kind of approach to get the liveliness and
movement of the water. In one study I can focus on the reflection of the
sunlight on the water, in another it will be the color of the wave that
occupies my attention. And through it all, I don't have to will a perfect
moment to happen.
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| Acadian Cliffs by Don Demers, 12 x 14, oil painting. |
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As Demers points out in his new DVD,
Marine Painting: Art of the Wave, altering and editing what you
capture outdoors to make a better studio painting is where the creativity of an
artist really comes into play. For Demers, about 70
percent of any painting is directly from one of his studies, and about 30
percent will be embellishments that he makes for the good and impact of the
painting.
To learn how to strike this balance in your work, and for a
great method on wave painting from one of the most well recognized maritime
artists in America, getting your copy of Don Demers' Marine Painting: Art of the Wave is a no-brainer. Enjoy!
