La Guisane au Casset

LaGuisaneAuCasset2018

La Guisane au Casset by Susan Lomas, 2018. Watercolour 21 cm x 30 cm.

I often use photographs as a starting point for my paintings. Certainly during the icy alpine winter this makes good sense! It’s simply too cold to stay still outdoors long enough to make detailed drawings. Normally I prefer to take the photos myself, but in this case it was a good friend of mine who captured the image during a family visit to Le Casset, Serre Chevalier, (alt. 1600m) on Easter Saturday 2018.

I had noticed this house by the river many times but I had never considered this angle before. I knew straightaway that it would make a great painting. I could make the huge mound of snow look less “grubby” and also add a little more sky and mountain at the top of the painting.

The overall colour scheme of the painting relies on the cerulean blue shadows on the snow, the violet tones in the depths of the water and the shadows on the building, as well as hints of golden yellow in the foliage. My colour scheme is “warmer” than the original photo, it just seemed to work that way.

WebPhotoGuisaneCassetCTremlett

La Guisane au Casset. Photo by C.Tremlett, 2018

The Guisane river flows along the entire length of the Vallée de la Guisane, more commonly referred to as the Serre Chevalier valley for touristic purposes. The name “Guisane” derives from the Latin phrase aqua sana which means healing water.

The original painting has been professionally scanned and good quality prints and postcards are available directly from the artist.

Postcards : 1 €

Prints on A3 card : 10 €

 

 

 

 

Meet the Author

Susan