My Afternoon with Vincent

 "My Afternoon with Vincent"  16x20in  Oil on Canvas

painted by Lance Jeschke

While most of the world spent the weekend celebrating the coming of a new year, I spent mine a bit under the weather. It was not a wasted weekend, even though I tried to get some painting in, my body had other thoughts. So I grabbed a book I have called "Vincent" and with the aid of the 251 pages of beauty, I set out to learn a thing or two. I just simply looked at a lot of his paintings. Van Gogh being one of my favorite artists, I had seen them many, many times before....but this time I just looked with a fresh eye (may have been the medicine? or the slight fever? hehehehehe ). I decided once I felt better I would try and paint a landscape with the thoughts of his work in my mind. First of all this was the first landscape I have painted in 25 years and second I was going to try an emulate a master. It sounded like a great study and project...

Van Goghs "Wheat Field with Cypresses" 1889 oil on canvas...was my inspiration and my guide it also happened to be on the cover of the book I was viewing and reading all weekend.

So I had made a plan.....I was looking at it more of a study or an assignment. Back when I was in school, I used to love it when the teacher gave us a project, some parameters and expected a certain outcome. It turns into a great puzzle to solve. The only difference was during this project I didn't have to worry about a grade (not that I did much worrying about my art grades) but you get the point.....I didn't want to copy this masters work brush stroke for brushstroke, what would I learn doing that? I just wanted to use a style to create an emulation. I have always loved his style. I wanted to see if I could even get the feel or the mood close?  I have never really been interested in doing landscapes but if I was going to try one it would be in the style of Van Gogh. So I painted one....

It went very well!.......The first problem was that I only had like 1/4th a tube of Titanium white (and I was not about to get more today)..That white went pretty fast! ....oh well?...... I spent like 3.5 hours  in front of the canvas and it seemed like 1/2hour...Once I got a flow it went pretty good.  I wanted a Cypress tree or two, some Olive trees, a wheat field, some hills and a flowing sky. Those where my main parameters and some color choices too. I didn't have a plan where to place them, just wanted it to happen!..... I will admit painting the wheat field was my favorite part of this whole piece. It felt like I was building a wheat field with a brush. Actually the whole piece was rather liberating. The name of the game is get as much paint on your brush as you can and do most of your color mixing right on the canvas. Deliberate strokes but not deliberate! If you think....the painting will not work....I can see on my painting, where I thought, and it shows. Where my mind was wandering, those are the parts that excite my eye.........I used a lot of paint on this one...but the texture is so fun and the color is so pure. I just love heavy impasto oil paintings. They have always caught my eye. (I am always compelled to touch them for some reason?)  Speaking of the paint.....The palette was a beautiful mess....a work of art in its own way?

I will have to say it was a day well spent...I learned a lot today and had a blast doing it. My little painting will spend the next weeks drying. It will then find its way onto a wall somewhere in my house as a visual reminder of the time I spent with Vincent!.....

Painting is a beautiful thing on many levels but today I spend about 4 hours doing something that will last my lifetime and possibly many lifetimes....All because I spent my weekend looking at paintings and felt inspired to learn something, and of course because Vincent Van Gogh didn't care what folks thought about his work he just did it. He also lived it.....Peace and Love to you...thank you for checking out my day project....