Thursday 18 March 2010

Between Bjørnøy and Roaldsøy - looking west

This is a quick sketch and my first ever effort for the Virtual Paintout which this month is painting Stavanger in Norway. See Stavanger, Norway - March 2010 which contains a number of contributions at this mid-point in the month. I find it intriguing that quite so many different styles can work well with an image from Google Maps!

Between Bjørnøy and Roaldsøy - looking west
coloured pencils on Saunders Waterford

I found the most difficult bit to be navigating my way to a spot which had 'a good view' (which translates as something I liked enough to want to draw).

In the end I went for one of the islands and found a narrow bridge which gave me a view in two directions and a choice of topics. I like the red barn-like buildings and the combination of the red barns and the water seemed to me to be typical of this part of the world.

This is the link to where I was - although not quite the place I got to first time round. I forgot where I'd been or to make a note of the link and had to find it all over again!

Streetview is also a neat way of checking out whether somewhere where you think should present a good prospect for plein air work will deliver the goods in reality. Obviously you can't get everywhere - but there's a fair few places you can go.

It is also absolutely fascinating being able to see different parts of the world. I suspect a fair few people may change painting holiday plans as a result of being able to review locations using Streetview!

8 comments:

Charlene Brown said...

This is absolutely lovely, Katherine! I've glad you've finally joined the Virtual Paintout -- and I know what you mean about having to look for a place twice. All I remembered of the address of the location I eventually painted was Rogaland - I think that's about like remembering the British Columbia in my address and expecting to find my house right away!

Leslie Hawes said...

It does take a bit to figure out where to go for a good "view". Looks as if you've got it figured! What a wonderful drawing.
And it sounds as if you've got a mild, but pleasant case of Google Street View!
I love it as an artist's tool.

Casey Klahn said...

That street view tool is fancy - I hope to explore it more myself. I liked every direction the view would look - yours made a good scene, and your technique does it proud.

Renee Brennan said...

Hi Katherine,
Your picture is lovely! I started a painting from that exact spot....now I have an excuse to find a new one as I was getting frustrated with my results....I don't think I could top yours. I like the softness of the scene with the colored pencils....well done!

Billy Guffey said...

The easiest way to get back to the same place is to email a link to the view to yourself. Go to "SEND" in the upper right corner of the screen and a box will pop up that allows you to email it to yourself or anyone else. I have many saved from many locations.

Murilo S Romeiro said...

I've been working in the same scene since last week. This month I am a little lasy and didn't finish my artwork yet.
It will be interesting seeing our visions of the same local in The Virtual Paintout.
Congratulations for your nice painting.
:o)

Robyn Sinclair said...

I'd have totally missed this had I not been reading MAM - Who Made a Mark... Great effort Katherine! I'm beginning to feel a coward for not trying this. Maybe I'll wait until my additional 1GB of RAM arrives before I lose myself in Google maps!

Apologies for being such a slack member of Art of the Landscape - five weeks away from my computer and the amount to catch up on is overwhelming. My lack of activity is no reflection on my good intentions for the future.

Claudia said...

Very nice!