Roman Aqueduct
Three years ago, about this time of year, we spent a three-week vacation in Provence, France. The region is surnamed “The Roman Province” for a reason. It is rich in monuments and ruins built in antiquity by the Romans.
This week, I wanted to paint on half-sheet paper for the first time and experiment with carefully controlling the edges as I painted the background, midground, and foreground of a composition I liked. The best inspiration for my new composition is from a photo I took while walking to Pont du Gard to see the aqueduct on this quiet afternoon just before rain set in. I remember vividly our group walk from the Northern parking lot to the base of the Roman Aqueduct with my group of friends, as we vacationed together, 5 families of friends sharing 3 cars.
As you can see, dark clouds were gathering on the horizon when we reached the base of the standing section of the aqueduct. Yet, there were lingering rays of sun hitting the Gard River at the base of the massive building, producing a fascinating cinematic effect like being in an Indiana Jones movie.
I remember the sensation of hitting bingo by realizing that the source of those massive blocks of limestone used for the construction of the Aqueduct is the riverbed itself.
Walking along the aqueduct and looking along the Gard River, anyone with a sense of engineering would be able to imagine, in the empty spaces extending the banks of the River on either side, all those blocks of stone. Imagine Roman cranes, workers, and engineers alongside you, and you feel cast back two thousand years. That was awesome, indeed.
Given the size of paper I was aiming to paint on, I took time to plan my composition properly, starting with a tiny thumbnail to understand the value hierarchy for the best visual reflection of the scene on that 2D medium.
In this small-value study, I noticed that my composition would be a beautiful expression of my experience at Pont Du Gard if my focal point were placednext to the three figures walking along the pathway.
Also, painting the flora on the opposite hill in darker tones would best highlight the magnificence of the Aqueduct structure.
At this stage of painting my composition, I was not too sure how best to represent the scene at sunset in a clear sky from this angle, or which hues to use. So I painted a smaller study on Arches paper, 11 x 9 inches, without paying much attention to finishing it.
For this colour study, I used a reduced palette of paints from my Winsor & Newton artist’s set: Burned Sienna, Burned Umber, Raw Sienna, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Blue and Payne’s Gray.
To avoid the paper bending too much without being taped to the solid surface, I pre-wet both the front and the back before applying the first wash.
To paint the composition on the half-sheet paper, I drew it directly on the paper because of its size. The backlit table I have been using so far only works with a quarter-sheet of paper.
I did not pre-wet the paper or tape it at any stage of the painting. I learned that at this size, the Aches paper dries uniformly after the first wash if applied across the paper, producing no warping. The stages of painting the composition are captured in the tree images next.
