005. Marianne Von Werefkin: Nighttime Fishing in Ascona

My copy of Night Fishing in Ascona

Painted in 1923 Tempera on Cardboard measuring 65cm by 50cm.  In a private collection.

Marianne von Werefkin - Nighttime Fishing in Ascona

Back in I think 2013 I was in Vienna and there was an exhibition including some of her work. I can remember being struck by the use of colours and her figurines. The reason I choose to copy this piece was; I have seen mountains at night. I 've seen a town with brightly coloured buildings at night, I have seen towns by a lake at night, but never all together. 

I am jealous of painters who use colours like this and I wish I could see the world that way, so for me, it was quite an interesting task to undertake. 

When starting a piece I like to get some colours down as quick as possible to try and get a feel and then start correcting and sorting out where everything should be.  Working on this I noticed a natural flow. I don’t know if this has anything to do with the original being Tempera, but it felt to me that it was painted in passes of colour, especially the water. 

Chuck down some colour and hope for the best

I also bought some glazing fluid to work on this - just a piece of advice, if you are going to use glazing fluid use it from the start not halfway through.

This was definitely a milestone on my journey to copy 100 paintings. I realised that I needed to start taking better care of my brushes as I had pretty much destroyed most of them by this point. I was using a couple of jars of water on my bench, but I swapped one out for one of these which I can highly recommend.  The main advantage it offers is being to keep your brushes damp but not soaking in water. I also bought a soap bar as well which when cleaning my brushes at the end of a session, I can reshape the brush by rolling across the surface. 

Far better than a jar of water

Finally, as part of this process, I am hoping to find what my own personal style of painting might be. After finishing this and as much as I enjoy looking at colourful work, I am fairly certain this is not my style.