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Springtime in Greece – oil painting by Ask
Tag: oil on canvas
Lady in the Window
Sometimes the only way to capture a scene is to grab the phone from your pocket and to click. However, an image on a phone is soon forgotten, overtaken by the simplicity of capture as more and yet more images mount up , all hidden from the world on a tiny micrchip.
40 x40 cm
In this case, I was walking along the side of the little path parallel main road in Μακύνεια, mainland Greece, on my way back from the local shop there, when I spotted this lady in a her kitchen window. Even though she was some distance away, my clever phone with its 5 lenses, allowed me to choose to capture it up close and as a square image. I didn’t, however, have any square canvases with me, so its had to wait a couple of months for my vision to come to fruition!
How a painting begins… midsummer in Greece!
Its scorching hot, in the middle of the day in Greece, but have found a shady spot underneath a fig tree in a secluded corner of Galaxidi. The easel is up and the painting sketched out in charcoal directly onto the 80 x 60 cm canvas, underpainted in cerulean blue oils. Semi-squishy fallen figs get stuck on my sandals, but at least I found a subject quickly and have made a start. Its my last full day in Greece so need to work fast!
Oil painting in Samos, Greece, by Ask
I love Greece, and all her people, but most of all love the old ways of life, and the old traditions. As I used to live in the north of Greece, in Thessaloniki, I read and write and speak fluent Greek, so its easy to feel Greek too!
This painting though was initially captured as a photo on my phone, as it was my last day in Samos, and was actually on my way to the airport, but had diverted on the spur of the moment, to take one last look at Manolates and to try to track down the lady I had heard wove traditional rag rugs on a handloom. I was standing outside her little shop while she packaged up my parcel, when I spotted this delightful old man walking up the hill, using a walking stick, so quickly positioned myself to get the ideal shot on my phone, as he approached the blue doors but without covering the view of another man casually sitting in front of that same door. Success!
It was several months later though when I finally got round to turning that initial idea into an oil painting.
It starts though by underpainting the canvas in diluted blue oil paint, then sketching out the image in charcoal.
Then gradually adding the main features of the people in the painting
Its for sale at £850, though I now prefer to keep all my work!
Contact Elaine Ask on +_447990867058 to arrange the purchase or buy it and pay online on Etsy https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ElaineAskArtist
Ask - Artist 