The Conception of "Moon Lit Stream"

This is how " Moon Lit Creek" was conceived. I am posting this to show how the creative process works sometimes.

The painting on the top was the teacher's rendition of the subject matter. As an art student, we are taught to examine and reason and I think the most import element, to seek emotional impact.

I did not like the treatment of the trees, where each sat on a "bun" of earth. I did not like the confluence of one stream into another, it seemed rather odd. And the sketch did not speak to me at all.

So I started to rearrange the furniture. I wanted to create contrast with subject matters, dead tree versus bright foliage. I wanted to illuminate the subject matter, both physically and emotionally. I was able to connect the tight shot of water flowing over rocks, to the distant origin from the water fall. All the while without showing the entire length of the stream. This adheres to the Asian philosophy of not revealing everything, so that the observer's mind can connect the dots. I borrowed the technique of creating depth through scale, I paid attention to light values, I tried to think of whether the color is warm or cold, and how the overall tone will affect what the painting is trying to say. Yet all the while I am employing traditional Chinese brush methods to lay my lines and texture rubbings. My personal belief is that we cannot live in the rigid world of the past. Learn we must, to employ modern understandings, along with classic techniques, to paint what is relevant today.