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Sometimes, summer can be very green. Trees are green, grass is green, as in this painting of a parklike landscape. Could I keep intense greens, and still maintain a sense of depth in the landscape? The painting fought me, but I think I won in the end.

See the large version of the painting. It looks better there, more like the original than the very small picture in this blogpost.

Pictures of paintings really do not do justice to the paintings, althought we artists try to make the image look as much as the artwork as is possible. The camera 'sees' less than what the human eye does.

Here are some details from "Towards the Light", so you can see some of the strokes that make up the painting.

Water:



Foliage:



Stones:



As you see, the quality and direction of strokes varies as the surface vary, and as is needed. It wouldn't work well to do this kind of water with the same type of random marks as foliage. A boulder wouldn't look rounded by age and water if all strokes had been horizontal.

Initial strokes (no picture), are usually made with the side of the pastel stick. Think of it as a broad brush, and the tip of the  pastel stick as a small brush.

Varied strokes tend to give a livlier appearence to a painting, and helps build character and form.

This painting started 'life' as a Plein Air study, and this is the studio version of it. It is a place I like to visit, quite near to my home. A narrow sound (or strait) between two islands in the Stockholm archipelago, a lovely spot that is also the place of a famous battle.

The Battle of Stäket 1719

 (Adapted from Wikipedia.) Russia sent a large Baltic fleet with orders to pillage and harass the eastern Swedish seaboard. The Russian fleet proceeded burning cities and farmsteads.

The Russian admiral Apraxin had already investigated Baggensstäket, "the backdoor to Stockholm" (a narrow sound) as a way to reach the capital city without passing the fortress.

On August 10, Russian units were spotted in the archipelago. If they could pass through Baggenstäket it would be possible to reach the capital while completely out of reach of the cannon of Vaxholm.

On the morning of August 13, Russian galleys had been spotted at the entrance to the passage. The closest large Swedish army unit, the 800-man Södermanlands regemente, was alerted and force marched 19 kilometers to meet the enemy. A small force was sent ahead to protect the arrival of the rest of the regiment. After a rapid march through rocky and densly forested terrain under a hot summer sun, they  reached Baggenstäket before 7pm without encountering any fire. However the Russians by then had disembarked their forces, on both sides of the channel's eastern entrance. (Right behind us in the painting.) The Swedish forces arrived, and battle was engaged.

After two hours of confused fighting the battle was over, and the Russian solidiers retreated into their landing craft.

This “minor victory”, as it is called, may have been major in the respect that the capital was not taken by the Russians. Swedes speak Swedish, not Russian, thanks to the valiant and heavily outnumbered forces beating the Russians. It is quite possible the pile of stones in the painting were used to sink the ships that blocked the straits.

Today, the spot is nearly as rural and idyllic as in the 18^th century.The nursery garden belonging to the near manor has a cafe with a view, children swim here, adults picknick or hop into a little boat, heading for the Baltic Sea.

See a larger image of the painting in the Landscape section of the site.