I picked up the brush and stared at the blank canvas. Images ran through my head as I cascaded the blue and white to meet in the space between them on the palette. I admired the way the colors swirled as they melded into each other. A little more blue and the pattern continued until I had the perfect shade.
I made gentle strokes, lifting the brush off the canvas slightly so the blue faded into the white. The sky came together with each pass. The clouds would come soon as the picture formed. A light hue faded into the background on uneven levels. It was all by design.
The majestic view was now solidified in my mind and it wouldn’t escape until it was transferred to the paper. The bristles hit the water and splashed around. Drops splashed on the floor as I laid the brush down and grabbed the scraper. The gray I had spread out was pulled across another open part of the palette.
The angle of the mountains matched the sky as the edge pulled paint down to cover the white. Mountains took form in the background. They were subtle and would take time to walk to from this spot. The skyline was completed. Peering into the distance, I could see where the grassy area was going to give away to rougher terrain.
I mixed the green with all different shades. The hills wouldn’t be too green. The tree leaves were a mix that clashed and coordinated with the ground. The first strokes of the grassy hills unlocked the painting.
Mounds of green grew from nowhere and belonged right where they were as my brush passed. The front of the painting filled and crept to blend with the background. The grass popped up on the lower part of the mountains as it dotted them with quick dabs of the brush. From this far away, they could be trees.
Those were next as the trunks sprouted out of the ground and grew from mid-air. Branches of all sizes jutted out in all directions. They were just a small of the picture and provided shade to the humans and animals that needed breaks on their treks. The trunks melted into the grass.
The sun provided highlights coming from the upper right-hand side of the painting. It was to my back and didn’t interfere with this landscape except for some accents. Shadows here and there provided perfect hiding spots for smaller animals.
I overlooked the picture and wondered. Was there a cabin here? My mind delved back into itself and saw the place. There were no signs of human settlement at all.
The sky was the last to develop a couple of clouds that were not threatening. The beautiful summer day was complete. The landscape around me fell and I was left standing in my garage with my newest painting of a world I could only imagine.
-Vincent Hennings
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