The Spark
W
henlookingagainata photothatyearsearlier
hadinspireda largeoilpainting,I wassurprised
todiscoverthatthelowerhalfoftheimage
couldbeseenasanentirelydifferentlandscape—aview
thatinspiredmypastel,AutumnMarsh. Allthenecessary
informationwaspresentinthephoto.Compositionally,it
wasa matterofresizingandrepositioningshapes.I did,
however,borrowa treefromtheupperhalfofthephoto.
Whenpainting,thechallengeisnotsimplytoproduce
a convincinglandscape,buttocreateaninteresting
arrangementofshapesthatalsodepictsaninviting
atmosphericscene.Untillateintheprocess,I thinkonly
intermsofshapesandspaces,patternsandmassesof
lightanddark,andcolorrelationships.Onlywhenthese
abstractelementsuniteintoa balanced,harmonious
compositiondoI begintotransformthemintoactual
descriptionsofclouds,trees,fieldsandponds.PJDuaneWakehamhasservedontheartfacultiesofStanford
UniversityandtheCollegeofSanMateo.Hehasalsotaughtmany
paintingworkshopsandmasterclassesovertheyears.He’scurrently
a memberofthePastelSocietyofAmerica’sBoardofGovernors.One Photo, Two Visions
By Duane Wakeham
Wakeham used
the same refer-
ence photo (see
below) to create
two unique
landscape
compositions.
The fi rst was
an oil painting,
Near Moss
Landing
(48x72), shown
at bottom.
Later, he
painted the
pastel, Autumn
Marsh (12x18),
at left. Of
the pastel,
Wakeham says,
“I’m pleased
with how the
subtle richness
of color in the
distant row of
trees is echoed
throughout the
painting.”96 Pastel Journal APRIL 2020