This might seem a strange starting point for a painting, but it was one that was given to me recently to explore. I found the challenge of translating a given description of another person’s painting into one of my own without seeing the said painting, a rewarding exercise. The description came from an exhibion catalogue about a painting of a glider traversing mountains with an obsever noting features in the landscape below.
Having experienced several gliding flights myself, I was able to recall the sensations of looking down on the ground below and the constant reference to the horizon to maitain the craft in a stable postion in the sky. After some practice, flying the glider was completely under my control, banking left and right, a small adjustment of the stick to make it climb or dive and the constant observation of the area around the cockpit to avoid other craft that could be near you.
My translation of all these recollections resulted in a painting that conveys the muted colours of high altitude, and the perception of distance. These are translated into glipmses of features below and around without too much definition. I have drawn in the selected flight path of the glider in a thin meandering line with distict turning points coupled with a ficticious compass type instrument to indicate position and bearing. The mountains are distant but near enough for the up currents of air to be used by the glider in its long arcing paths.
Recent Comments