Sunday, November 03, 2013

Virtual Paintout 11: Vevie Goes to Peru!


For October Vevie and the Virtual Paintout  gang took off for ... Lima, Peru. Hola!!



First, I visited (via Google Street View) a tourist attraction: Park of the Legends. Beautifully manicured, lovely gardens, trees, flowers, water sculptures. Playgrounds and zoo animals for the kids, and a mini Machu Peechu.  Felt too... touristy.

Second, I visited the downtown city. Huge buildings, streets teeming with cars and people, colorful businesses. Felt too... impersonal.

Third, I traveled to the outskirts, scouting for rural beauty. I almost cried at the poverty. Crumbling husks of homes, barefoot kids, shacks stacked up the mountainsides... where people LIVED. Felt too... heart-breaking.

Lastly, by chance, I traveled up an extremely steep mountain road. Along the way, I passed all three types: touristy spots, businesses, and obvious poverty. Yet this road led them all to the same place: the huge stone cross statue called Cruz del Cerro San Cristobal, a famous landmark in Peru. 

This last location made me smile. We are all the same in our Hearts. We all need hope, love, and meaning in our lives . And to help each other get on up that road. Cuz sometimes it gets steep!

And that's why I was originally going to call this painting "Uphill".

It was a joy to paint this from my heart, and not worry about being judged, or about performing. See... this is a Landscape. A Landscape doesn't "usually" have graphic design added! But after seeing this beautiful country and pictures of their culture and art, I wanted to include design work to represent these creative people. Here then is "Uphill, Peruvian Style."

My Google street view scene (can click on any pics to enlarge):


And the "making of" pics...


I played with color 
schemes in Photoshop:



Sketched in with sepia pencil:



 I enjoy the look of the wrap around image:



 For the values I used yellow ochre
and red oxide:




 Decided to start the design first,
to better gauge the colors needed
for the landscape part:



 Fun toning the canvas with 
pink and orange:



Ultramarine blue and 
cerulean blue added:



 Continuing with color and details,
refining the clouds and road:



 Done! and drying on the easel:




 Design close up:



 Cruz del Cerro San 
Cristobal close up:



 And Vevie won't let 
me get away without
her own close up:






"Uphill, Peruvian Style"
Cruz del Cerro San Cristobal
Lima, Peru
9 x 12 acrylics
on wrapped canvas



Vevie (rhymes with Stevie)
my Virtual Paintout muse



Happy painting,

Retta

8 comments:

  1. Oh Retta! you;ve gotta love this one. It's perfect.

    Blessings

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    1. Thank you, Anne, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

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  2. I was so excited to see that you were going with Peru this time around. My grandparents went there once and I could tell that it really left an impression on them. They found it to be a beautiful and amazing place and were certainly touched by the people there.
    Your art that features Vevie is simply wonderful! I love them all!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jasmine,
      I think Peru would be a fascinating place to visit in person, from what I saw thru Google street view! How fun that your grandparents got to go there. Meeting the people... yeah, that's one thing you can't experience online. I guess it just wets the appetite for the real thing. :-)

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  3. You're process is fascinating. I love how you painted the sides and made them part of the piece. Your end piece ended up with so much depth and color. Beautiful!

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  4. Hi Mary! Thanks for the comment about the process... I was JUST wondering this time if it was a waste of time to include all of that about the process. So I'm glad you enjoyed seeing it. Thank you. :-)

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  5. Anonymous11:59 PM

    Sounds you had a very good time. Your painting looks awesome. The way you explained how you have done the painting is nice.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Weekend-Windup, and thanks for visiting.

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