I'm a water person. I
love boating, swimming, scuba diving, and just looking at the ever-changing
surface of nearby waterways. And I'm not alone. American artists--and those
abroad--have been enamored with so many beautiful bodies of water over the
centuries. But the watery artist who is stealing my heart right now is Jonas
Lie.
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| Old Wharves, Camden, Maine by Jonas Lie, ca. 1925-40, oil painting. |
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Lie was born in Norway,
but he spent a large part of his career painting the coastal areas of New
England. When I started searching for his art online, I was blown away with
what I found. In every seascape of Lie's that I look at, I feel transported. He
made the light reflecting on the water look so real. But it was the way he
crafted the light in the atmosphere, as it bounced off the water or filtered
down from the rays of the sun or the moon, that really astonishes me.
The art techniques Lie
employed are not overly complicated. He used color and texture to do what he did.
It's so simple, I tell myself. But looking at a painting like Old Wharves, Camden, Maine, with its
blues and whites and greens and yellows, tells me I have so much to learn about
creating atmospheric effects in painting.
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| From the Rockport Shore, Maine by Jonas Lie, ca. 1926-27, oil painting. |
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I already know it will
take a good deal of persevering, because I've never done a seascape painting before.
But with Lie as my guide, at least I know I am fired up and inspired enough to
try. One of my upcoming goals is to get out on the water and start sketching.
But before I do, I'm going to delve into the essentials of plein air painting and
work on my watercolor skills with a few of the resources I've had my eye on at the Artist Daily Shop. I'm going to download a few workshops because learning art techniques online this way is convenient
for me--I can do it on my own time and that's a perk I really like. Plus we get an extra 15% off now through Sunday when we enter EXTRA15 at checkout. Sweetness!
So see what will help
you in your next painting project at the Artist Daily Shop! And if you
glean any ideas or tips from looking at Jonas Lie's work that could help me
out, leave a comment and let me know. You know I can
use the help!
