Yosemite Valley
an extraordinary painting commission
February, 9th 2022
Over the past 15 years I have painted many commissioned paintings, I know the subject of commissioned paintings is a dubious one amongst a lot of artists, but as a professional artist and particularly a realist landscape artist, commissioned works really do help me continue to do what I love - paint.
Mostly, people who commission paintings are excited about the project and the whole process is fun and rewarding. When they choose you as their artist it is a compliment to your painting ability and style of painting. It is an opportunity to do your absolute best for the client.
I always become emotionally invested in any of my works, I rarely accept any payment until I know I can paint the painting to the level I am happy and proud of.
Although a commissioned work isn't necessarily the painting subject I may have had in mind, after several hours at the easel I really do connect with the scene. The expression 'you don't know until you try it comes to mind'.
In this way commissioned works have stretched my painting boundaries, and made me a better and more accomplished artist - and I have enjoyed every single one!
So when I was approached by a Denver client to paint a large painting I was ready and excited. Our discussion on the subject was vast - we started with an idea of a NZ seascape. But as the ideas flowed we moved onto the idea of mountains, and then possibly something from the US. This is when the pieces fell into place. My wife and I visited the Sierra Nevada and Yosemite Valley in 2013 and I had a catalogue of my own images, My client loves Yosemite and is a season regular hiking those tracks. We had found our subject.
This work would take me further from the NZ landscapes I know so well and love to paint. A prerequisite for starting a painting is I feel I need to have been there or connected in some way with the landscape. This has taken my wife and I to some idyllic locations over the years and it's a nice way to begin the project of creating the painting. So it was very lucky we had spent some time in the Yosemite area. In fact I had already painted a small Yosemite scene for our own wall.
After discussing the idea and coming to an agreement on the size and dimension, I then create some small 'oil sketches' to represent the proposed scene in paint. I've found this the best way 'nut out' the final idea and ensure we are all on the same page going forward. This is the final stage in the commission process before I start the actual painting.
The resulting painting is Yosemite valley from the road into the valley. El Capitan is on the left and the Three Sisters and Bridal Veil Falls on the right and the foreground over looking the forest canopy. These monolithic rock faces were the most 'rock' I had ever painted, and now I love painting rock! See, you don't know until you try it.
At some point the painting starts to take on its own life and myself and the client are along for the ride - this is the fun part, despite all the design and planning, wet paint just moves randomly, and sometimes a little magic can happen. The dry rock plateau on the Three Sisters is a great example of this and in my opinion some of the best painting I have ever done - so far. In fact, when I travel South in a month's time I will be looking for some NZ landscape that resembles this baron rock to try and recapture the fun I had painting this work.
The painting will now be packaged and shipped to the US to hang on the clients wall.
If you are interested in commissioning an oil painting contact Wayne.
