Welcome to Sophie's Nature Art!

One of the things I love to paint is water.
In general, I find color gradients, as they also occur in the sky, very beautiful. 

As in the last post I promised you that I would present my first two pictures on a larger canvas here.
I wanted to paint my first picture of this kind for the woman whose financial support enabled me to buy a basic set of paints and brushes.
So I was delighted when I asked my dear friend what kind of picture I could paint for her and she asked for a beach with palm trees by the sea. I looked for a fairly light-looking motif. She also wanted a cheerful Bible text. So I chose a text that is quite well-known among Christians 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. 

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, be thankful in all things; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

This painting would be my first real canvas painting. But first I did a test painting on acrylic paper to get a feel for it. This was to become a habit that I have faithfully maintained to this day. It has often saved me a lot of grief on the final work. It was also not uncommon for me to completely paint over or tear up a test painting. 

But in this first case it went quite well and so I ended up painting my first “really big“ canvas. If I remember correctly, the painting was 50x60cm.  

At that time, I didn't have an easel, which made the whole thing much more difficult. I was also still looking for high-quality brushes, which is why some things didn't turn out as nicely as I'd hoped. But overall, I quite liked the painting. It was also very different to painting on paper or cardboard. In short: it was really fun!
Above all, I realized that it is much easier to write a text when you have more space and the text can be written larger. 

So it was the first really big picture that I gave away. From today's perspective, this picture seems very amateurish to me, but at the time I was happy. Every time I visit my friend, I'm happy when I see the picture. It has been given a nice place and is cherished.  

It wasn't long before another dear friend's birthday was approaching. I also wanted to make her happy with my new hobby. So I asked her for a motif and she gave me a photo. It was a very nice picture, but some of it was too difficult for me because I knew I wouldn't be able to do it. But you have artistic freedom... 🙂
Nevertheless, I tried to stick very closely to the original. But I think if I showed you the original photo, you wouldn't be able to see many similarities 🙂 

This painting involved a new challenge: painting the boat. I had already watched a few YouTube tutorials on this. Nevertheless, it wasn't that easy to get the perspective right. But in the end, apart from a few fine details, it didn't turn out too badly. 
This picture was also given a Bible verse. This time it comes from a Psalm, which the famous King David wrote in an emergency situation. It is a prayer for help. The text in the picture shows the trust that David had in his God, even though the current circumstances still claimed the opposite.

I just added the flowers and they give the picture some life.
This picture has also found a home on a wall and is cherished by its owner.
With hindsight, I still see a lot of potential here. For example, I just noticed when I was writing this post that the clouds are reflected in the lake, but not the trees.  

I have found that you learn something new with every picture you paint. This process often happens unconsciously, but sometimes you think very carefully about what and how you could do something better. 

The boat in particular was a challenge for me. I don't know how many times I painted over it and started all over again. But at some point it was almost the way I imagined it. You can't miss the point at which you should stop. Otherwise you start “making things worse”. 

But that is precisely the joy of art. You try this and that. Many things don't work. Sometimes ingenious effects are created that are not intended, but are nevertheless beautiful. You need a little patience and a little perseverance and you will be rewarded with a beautiful result in the end.  

These were my first two canvas paintings. In the next post, I would like to introduce you to the ribbon of perfection. You will soon find out what it is and how it comes into play in my paintings.