Mirror image

July 30, 2015August 1, 2022 | Anna Cull

Triptych composition sketches — triptych composition sketches

Mirror image of the sketches — mirror image of the sketches

I have finally completed the commission I mentioned in a post about a month ago: an abstract landscape triptych for the owner of a Christchurch hair salon. Sonya (who is a bit of a genius when it comes to cut and colour) is changing the name of her business from ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ to ‘Sign of the Times’ (yes, she is a huge Prince fan) and wanted to mark the occasion with a significant artwork ― ‘significant’ in both senses of the word.

Sonya told me that I could paint whatever I wanted ― the only guidelines were size (to fit a large area above the door), colour (grey and orange, to match the colours in the salon), and for it to include the new business name and symbol. And it had to be a surprise. Sonya didn’t want any WIP images… nothing until it was finished! Oh and it needed to look good in the mirror too. No problem!

I opted for an abstract landscape because I thought that would be a suitable background for the words and symbols. Quite a lot of my inspiration came from the salon’s location near Barrington Park (in the photographs below):

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We did make one final (and fairly major) change to the triptych before calling it ‘finished’ but I can’t show you the paintings until we’ve put them up in the salon and that won’t be until October 1st. Sorry for the long wait. I have, however, just started another painting…

Update: The paintings are now in the salon (a little ahead of schedule). Visit this post to read more…

Eight-Second Exposure WIPs

June 4, 2015August 25, 2015 | Anna Cull

As promised, here are a few WIP photographs of my new painting.

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Lyttelton Harbour, WIP

May 22, 2015May 19, 2015 | Anna Cull

This is not one of the paintings I originally planned to do for next month’s exhibition but it was whispering in the back of my brain, nagging me to be painted ― so here is my first day’s progress: the underpainting. There are a few areas I want to correct but, overall, I really like the way this one is coming together.

Lyttelton panorama (original photo reference), 2014

Things are looking up, WIP

May 15, 2015May 13, 2015 | Anna Cull

“The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the more real.” Lucian Freud

If you want a subject, look around you

May 5, 2015May 12, 2015 | Anna Cull

Crepuscular rays (study) – ink and watercolour crayon, 2015

Homeward bound, Hanmer (original photo reference), 2014

“If you want a subject, look around you.” Peter Brook

The last autumn

April 28, 2015August 1, 2022 | Anna Cull

This commission was a bit special, both for the client and for me. The Press Building was the home of The Press newspaper from 1909 until February 2011. A beautiful building situated in Cathedral Square, it was one of the casualties of the Christchurch 2010–2011 earthquakes. Even though the painting shows its last autumn (in 2010), we wanted it to represent happier times and evoke fond memories.

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The painting is a combination of two of my In the Style of… paintings: the building and tree from The Press and the leaves from Tram. The red geraniums originally appeared in Press Lane, an experimental sketch I did in 2013. I photographed the final painting on a dull day — the tree is actually very dark brown, not black. And at 40″ x 54″ (1015mm x 1370mm), it’s my largest ever painting.