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ART CHALLENGE
Second Prize is a two-page editorial feature in American Art Collector magazineBrian LaSaga Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, Tidal Roots, acrylic, 12 x 18" (30 x 46 cm)
My Inspiration
My inspiration always starts with nature.
I either drive, hike or kayak to certain
locations looking for material that will
catch my eye. Since we are surrounded by
water, there is no shortage of coastal scenes,
which offers many driftwood sculptures. I
enjoy walking along our rocky beaches and
listening to the sound of the ocean. Some
of the driftwood along our beaches may get
moved around with our rising and falling
tides and there is always something new to
see each time I visit these areas.My Design Strategy
I enjoy painting the twisted shapes and
textures of driftwood against interestingskies and this is just another example of
what I like to do with these subjects. In this
piece I wanted a different perspective and
chose a low angle approach with backlit
evening light. I didn’t want to hold back on
the rocks and grass so I gave it just as much
attention as the main subject. Although
the water is off in the background, it was
very important to me to make it appear soft
and flowing. It was a critical element to the
setting I wanted to express.My Working Process
I always start by preparing my Masonite
wood panel with equal coats of acrylic gesso
on both sides and later sand the roughness
down to a smoother finish. I always start mysky even before any drawing of the subject
is executed. Since this was a small piece, a
pencil drawing was done freehand directly
onto the panel but most of the drawing
was done later with various paint brushes.
I used a limited palette for this piece but
ultramarine blue and burnt sienna were the
main colors. Other colors used were alizarin
crimson, Hansa yellow, Hooker’s green and
titanium white.Contact Details
» Email: [email protected]
» Website: http://www.brianlasagarealism.com