Saturday, 29 October 2011

Electric Sunrise

I work quite close to my home but the landscape changes rapidly as I make my way to the office. The semi-rural soon gives way to the cluttered and less pleasant urban and industrial areas of the town. Being close to major road and rail links is great when you want to get anywhere but not so pleasing to the eye, or at least not for most of the day. However, this was the scene that greeted me a few days ago as I walked the last few yards to work. The beautiful glowing sunset created eery silhouettes of the nearby hedgerows and the railway pylons of the electrified East Coast Mainline which carries passengers and freight to and from London and the North East throughout the day. I took a photograph with my phone camera and used that as my reference Sometimes beauty can be found in the unlikeliest of places :)

On a sad note, I'm sure many of you are already aware of Jane Minter's recent post about the copying of one of her beautiful paintings. I'm sure, like me, you all share in Jane's disheartened feelings about this :(

Additiionally, my thoughts also go out to Maggie Latham who has recently fallen victim of several episodes of copyright issues which has ultimately led to her (sadly) closing down her 1000 washes blog. Maggie describes her reasons in her post here. I for one will miss Maggie's unending enthusiasm and love for pure watercolour.

Finally, my number of followers has increased quite a bit over the last few weeks and will very soon be catching up with my age LOL :) Lots of inspiring blogs for you to check out, some of which are already on my sidebar.

Tara for now. Have a great weekend everyone and of course .... Happy painting :)


Electric Sunsrise, watercolour in Fabriano Venezia sketchbook, 18cm x 25cm/7" x 10"
Posted by at 10:44
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30 comments:

  1. Rolina29 October 2011 at 12:16

    I think the joy of being an artist is having the ability to see beauty in the mundane. You have captured this wonderfully and I can see why it caught your eye!

    It is distressing to see an image reappropriated like has happened to Jane, I have had that happen to me with my photographs and it is very upsetting, it seems the blog in question is now removed.

    Have added Rose to my follow list, thanks for the link!

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  2. Jane29 October 2011 at 12:44

    You certainly managed to put beauty into a landscape where it is highly unlikely to find it, beautiful colors and looseness .
    Wish you a great weekend.

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  3. Unknown29 October 2011 at 12:45

    Thank you very much Rolina. Yes, it distressing to see how great artists like Jane and Maggie have been affected.

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  4. Unknown29 October 2011 at 12:48

    Hi Jane! Thank you for your lovely comments. I wish you a super weekend too.

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  5. Barbra Joan29 October 2011 at 12:52

    Michael, you always manage to make your paintings come alive. 'electric'? Yes.... BJ

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  6. Unknown29 October 2011 at 12:57

    Oh, thank you BJ, that's a lovely comment. Hope you had a wonderful week of birthday celebrations :)

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  7. Judy29 October 2011 at 13:15

    Michael you have captured the light beautifully!

    I feel sick to my stomach about what happened to Jane. Especially because I recently left a group of people because of someone who happily violated copyright. And who had the nerve to feel offended by me because I said something about it. Maggie's decision is very sad, but I understand her completely.

    Happy weekend and happy painting!

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  8. Unknown29 October 2011 at 13:21

    Good afternoon Judy! Thank you very much for your lovely comment. Yes, it is sickening because it has had such a wider effect, as you have experienced yourself.

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  9. Anonymous29 October 2011 at 17:26

    That's very sad and that is precisely the reason why I always put my blog address on my photos.

    The painting is again a very beautiful landscape with a lovey sunsrise. Beaitful colours.

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  10. Carrie Waller Watercolors29 October 2011 at 17:45

    Beautiful, landscape!! I love the amount of texture and energy you've captured in the bottom half of the painting. Even though it is the same color for the most part there is so much energy.

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  11. irinapictures29 October 2011 at 18:51

    The sketch is simple and complicated at the same time. The feel of distance and light is very strong.
    Thank you for the link to Rose's blog.
    I am sure that the thief from Jane's blog learned good lesson.

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  12. Pat29 October 2011 at 20:30

    Lovely work Michael :)

    Sad what happened to Jane.. there's always a bad egg or two in a worldwide community.. thankfully they are the minority!

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  13. Unknown29 October 2011 at 22:06

    Hi Renske, and thank you for your lovely comments. That is a very good idea to protect your work with your blog address :)

    Hi Carrie, and thank you for stopping by and for your lovely comments.

    Hi Irina. Thank you for your lovely comment and I hope you like Rose's blog too! Yes, I think a lesson was learned!

    Good evening Pat and thank you :) Yes, events like that are a minority thankfully.

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  14. Unknown29 October 2011 at 23:32

    Thank you Rose for the lovely comments ... and the hugs of course! You're very welcome. I hope the mention brings you lots more visitors and comments :) I hope you do get chance to get out there and sketch - just ignore the onlookers and the comments (good, bad and indifferent)and enjoy!

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  15. Blaga30 October 2011 at 00:12

    Your watercolor is very interesting with the choice of colors and the unusual back-lit scene. As others said already, you turned an unlikely scene into a beautiful painting.
    Yes, we have all been pretty upset with the plagiarism event. Good that you mentioned it too. The wider it is being discussed on the blogs, the more we demonstrate intolerance to such behaviour, and hopefully that would discourage it in the future...

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  16. Unknown30 October 2011 at 00:18

    Hi Blaga. Thank you very much for your comment. I love backlit scenes like this where the foreground is in silhouette.
    I hope that the word spreads about the plagiarism issue and we see an end to it.

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  17. Barbra Joan30 October 2011 at 01:43

    Michael, just wanted to say thanks for the thumbs up on the porcelain palette. I've been using a very nice enameled metal for a long time but it's too small to do what I really want which is far looser work. I've ordered the Tom Lynch palette, it costs but I know I will like it... BJ

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  18. Unknown30 October 2011 at 08:13

    Hi BJ, you're welcome! Ooh, the Tom Lynch palette, that's a big gorgeous one ! I have a 7 x 6 flat ceramic and a 5 well/5 slant one which I keep in an old pastel box for safety. I'm just waiting for another to arrive so I can also use it to put out the tube colour. Can't wait to see some big loose paintings from you real soon!

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  19. Sadeu30 October 2011 at 09:21

    very beautiful picture, Michael : )

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  20. Unknown30 October 2011 at 10:09

    Thank you very much Sadeu!

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  21. jsicignano2.blogspot.com30 October 2011 at 11:16

    Good morning Michael. Your painting of Electric Sunrise is magnificent. Your work is outstanding.

    Enjoy your day and all the best to you.

    Joan

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  22. Unknown30 October 2011 at 11:46

    Good morning to you Joan - we're just four hours ahead of you at the moment :) Thank you so much for your lovely comment. Best wishes to you and enjoy your Sunday too, Michael.

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  23. Victor Errington30 October 2011 at 12:29

    Good Afternoon Michael. You wouldn`t believe it but I have just written out a heck of a lot to you but it disappeared. So I can`t go through all that again my friend. This is a short version. Lovey, Lovely painting Michael. You certainly have a lovely style of your own. All the best my friend.
    Vic.

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  24. Unknown31 October 2011 at 00:08

    Hi Vic. Oh that happens to me a lot! I try to remember what I put but it's never the same is it?. I really appreciate your comments my friend, all very encouraging :) All the best Vic.
    Michael.

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  25. Lisa Le Quelenec31 October 2011 at 09:08

    Morning Michael, your right there is beauty in very unlikely places if we are only prepared to look. Your painting says this very eloquently.

    I find these episodes of copyright infringement very sad, both for the artist copied but also for the person doing the copying. Do they not realise that for one this is a very close community and it will be found out but also that by copying they are loosing the opportunity of flying with their own talent. A copied thing is empty and souless.

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  26. Unknown31 October 2011 at 09:41

    Good morning Lisa and thank you. It was just one of those scenes that catch one's eye and say 'paint me'!
    Yes, we are a very close community and we tend to gather in overlapping circles so I can't believe that anyone would believe they could get away with it. It's fine to be inspired by someone else's work and to develop a piece from that inspiration or even to try to use a composition or imitate a style of a favourite artist with a 'after X' to indicate that it is not your own work. But blatent copying, real or digital is, as you say, empty and soulless.

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  27. Anonymous3 November 2011 at 19:26

    A very very good work Michael. I like the way you captured the light and the abstract finished result.

    Now about copyright. I must say I quite understand Maggie who closed her blog.
    I also suffered of harassment from another artist, a crazy one, who put false orders on my Etsy shops, opened a false site on my name usurping my identity and I was obliged to close my blog and change my name.
    Internet is good to know other artists but it is also the opened door to all crazy people in this world. Happily the most part of them are normal.

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  28. Unknown3 November 2011 at 20:22

    Thank you very much indeed, Hoghart (sorry I don't know your real name)!
    That's truly horrible for someone to mess up your Etsy shop like that. Why do people do these kind of things? It is a bit of a minefield out there, but fortunately, as you say, most people are normal :)

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  29. Michelle27 January 2012 at 09:33

    love this painting dad :) xx

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  30. Unknown27 January 2012 at 10:23

    Thank you, Shell :) x

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