TRAVEL WITH MY ART #23: ZAVALA, ISLAND HVAR (CROATIA)

December 05, 2021

Hello and welcome to the twenty-third post in TRAVEL WITH MY ART category. I'm really excited to share this acrylic painting with you because I have worked on it for such a long time. So, what was the inspiration behind this painting? Where are we travelling today? Once again I'm taking you to Zavala on island Hvar. We visited this place a few time on my blog but when a place is this magical you want to return to it. As you (regular readers) know, I absolutely love island Hvar. Not only do I have roots there, but I have spent a considerable amount of time on this magical island. Most of my summers really, not to mention the fact that I worked and lived on island Hvar full time from October 2019 to November 2019.

Back in March, I started a new regular art feature on my blog with the goal of sharing my paintings and illustrations of different places. I named it 'Travel with my Art' because I use it to share paintings depicting different destinations. So far, I have painted island Hvar a number of times. Zavala in particular appeared three times already in this feature. Most of the places I painted are located in Croatia because that's where I'm from and the area I know best.

Once again, I used my husband's photograph as a reference. As you know, I usually use either my own photographs or those taken by my husband. There is this photograph that he took in Zavala back in Semptember 2019 that I really like so that was my main inspiration for this painting. I love the framing of this photograph and the light. I enjoy how busy it is, meaning that it has lots of details. The contrast between the shallow waters and the sea was particularly fascinating to me.

Naturally I was also inspired by other photographs we have taken back in 2019 as well and I'll share some of them later. Turning this photograph into an acrylic painting proved a bit challenging but more about that later. The art supplies (professional acrylic paints) used to make this painting are by Royal Talens brand. The high quality canvas was bought in art gallery Michelangelo. For any inquiries about purchasing my art originals, you may email me. Scroll down for more details and to see the reference photography.

IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO FINISH THIS PAINTING!

THE MAKING OF A PAINTING 'SHALLOW AND DEEP WATERS'

There are so many layers in this painting, as one would expect from a realistic painting. When I first started painting more seriously a few years ago, I was naturally attracted to impressionist style. However, with time I started to do more realistic style paintings. Moreover, I even introduced some elements of hyper-realism in my art. My painting style is evolving as we speak. I started this painting without a particular plan in mind when it came to style it was going to be painted in. One thing I was sure about where the tonalities and colours I wanted to use. I sort of worked from there. I have spent hours studying the reference photographs. Capturing this scene on canvas was no easy task. Not only is this particular scene full of details, it's also filled with different tonalities. Moreover, the light reflections were challenging to paint as well. The light reflections in the natural shallow 'pool' created by rocks are very different from the light reflection on the waves and the sea. Don't even get me started on painting the sea foam. It's as time consuming and difficult as painting pearls. It took me a long time to finish this canvas. I didn't time myself but it definitely took more than a hundred hours.

I have put so much effort into this painting but I think it payed off. What do you think? I love the shallow pool I painted, probably my favourite part of the painting. It's fascinating to paint the sea. There are so many different colours and tonalities you need to know how to use and mix. Moreover, you must be so careful with reflections and shades to get it right. It can be quite hard to make the sea come alive. Often it can be exhausting, but you can also get into the 'zone' and then it feels natural. I can't say that I'm completely figured my technique when it comes to painting the sea. I'm still learning. Paintings like this one are great for really studying the sea. However, these kind of detailed and realistic seascapes take a lot from me. That is why I need to make pauses to work on easier stuff. Wrist, neck and back pains are often the price to pay when you do a more ambitious painting. While painting, I was probably using a very fine and thin brushes for about 95 percent of the time....and believe me when I say that I worked hard. That's just how realistic painting works.

MORE MOMENTS CAPTURED ON CAMERA FROM ZAVALA ON ISLAND HVAR & A COLLAGE FEATURING PHOTOGRAPHS FROM MY PREVIOUS VISITS TO ZAVALA

MORE TRAVEL WITH MY ART LINKS

If you want to see what other locations inspired me to paint them, click the links bellow.

....A FEW MORE CLOSE UPS OF THIS SEASCAPE PAINTING

For those interested, prints of this art piece are available in my redbubble shop (on stickers, t-shirts, poster prints , phone cases and a lot more). As always thank you for your visits to my blog. Take care and have a great week ahead!