Old Town Porvoo

2019

Acrylics and oil colour on c. 70 x 100 cm fiber board, ready to be hanged in wooden frame.

The old town of Porvoo (Finland) has inspired dozens of painters and photographers through its beauty and old-time-atmosphere. A few years ago I visited it again to video and edit. The video quality, being from an iPhone 5S, left much to wish for—nevertheless, watching those clips I came across this scene and felt I just need to produce a painting from it.

As I had other ongoing projects it was impossible to initiate the process before January 2019. By this point I had already become a bit fed up with my slightly slow manner of working. Therefore I thought that I could force myself with this painting to learn a somewhat looser style, perhaps to even set myself a timetable. Since I'm painting inbetween my proper job and many other activities, I set the deadline to two weeks. It's satisfying to acknowledge that it held, although there was even a four-day break because my teaching required many evening hours then. There was an additional challenge posed by the biggest surface upto that moment.

I guess "loose style" means different things to artists. Still, for most it means that the colours and light ("values") should be kept as close to the reference but you be more careless with the amount of detail. Also, brushwork can be quite free. Impressionism took this even further. When I compare the painting with my reference I can see that I've taken liberties on every area. This is not realism but an interpretation, the way it was meant to be.

A fun little fact about painting this: the best bits of this one I achieved while listening to Miles Davis' album Bitches Brew, his renowned entryway to fusion jazz, with these really funky and decadent grooves. That proved to be the best possible source for creativity and a loose touch.

SOLD.