This is the eleventh of my contemporary forests series.
Soleil levant / Rising sun
©2017 Suzanne Bélair
Acrylic and Inks on canvas 10 X 10 in
The previous paintings of the series can be viewed here and here.
By the time I got to the last two paintings, I was really enjoying discovering where each painting could go. This is often a surprise to me to see a painting evolve as if on its own.
This one posed a particular challenge since I still wanted to work with the original background and I didn’t want to turn it around:
Here is how it evolved. Using the red at the top left, I decided to do a big contemporary cloud. At first placing it behind the trees on one side and in front of trees on the other side, and then, moving it forward and creating the water and the bushes in front.
I didn’t like the effect and went back to the “drawing board” so to speak. I thought the yellow mound looked like a mountain and thought I would go with that concept at first.
©2017 Suzanne Bélair
I wasn’t happy with any of it. This was not working, the bushes looked fake and out of place with the modern feel of the painting and there was too much blue. I put it aside for a while. In the end, I thought I would transform the mountain into a big sun and got rid of most of the red clouds. The bushes were darkened with some black to give it a more contemporary vibe and keep the feel of the previous paintings in the series. Soleil levant was born.
I hope you enjoy discovering how these paintings evolved and it inspires you to create your own painting series.
Follow me on Instagram
www.facebook.com/SuzanneBelairArtist
