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Every so often I take an older image and decide I want to either manage a makeover or maybe even start afresh.  Perhaps the original was a photograph or a sketch or a finished computer image, whatever – and I for some reason see a better, different or more exciting project for this image.  The Charles Bridge in Prague is one such place and I have over time managed a few different ideas and styles.  Do I want a graphic illustration or an oil style, perhaps an Impressionist piece (my favorites possibly), maybe a new style of sketch or pastel?  Did I mention watercolor?

Water, color and Prague

Anyway I took much more time over this one than I normally do and this is the final result. Also I suppose the actual view and the visual layout of the picture has always attracted me, even classical I suppose.  The bridge is perhaps just about on one of the magical thirds and the trees to the left nicely balanced also.  The fact that the color interest in the town catches the eye nicely and here I’ve accentuated it slightly just gives it a lift, as if perhaps the evening sun is still lingering on the building tops.

OK if truth be told I was sort of prompted into doing it as someone was asking the other day about watercolor and how with computer artistry you could manage such a thing.  I have to say it isn’t particularly easy and more so if you are an artist anyway and have painted for many years, because you know what a watercolor should look like.  Mind you I’ve seen watercolors that on first glance appear as oil and prints that seem to be real paint (what with multi-layer pigment printers these days – as opposed to dye based ones).  The ink is so wet that it can blot out any pixel dots per inch or print paper texture – quite amazing.

I’ve seen pictures on computer that are better visually than I could manage with brush and easel even in my heyday.  And art or painting or drawing is not something just for the guy who mucks around for hours each day in his studio – even in the garret – covered usually top to bottom with anything from Prussian Blue to Yellow Ochre to turpentine and dry skin!

The visual arts are changing so fast and multi-media has overtaken us all at such a rate, from experimental to almost anything goes is really quite daunting.  Indeed almost anyone today can be an artist, in virtually any medium and at all levels.  Note I said “almost” everyone, because there is a whole world out there with folks that in fact “artistically challenged” for want of another description and who have no conception of art or appreciation of the balance or of nature’s wonders.  So no matter what medium is used and whatever new techniques and simple methods appear or some instant software comes along – there is simply no substitute for the artistic brain.

If you ain’t got it – you ain’t got it.

There are of course many out there who have it by the bucket load and are terrific, though perhaps unsung and certainly not famous.  Others that will never know – never tried it perhaps or have no interest in it as they’re doing other things with their lives and perhaps far more talented that many of us who profess to be artists!

Like the boy at school who was pretty hopeless at most subjects and in this particular case Geometry was certainly not one of his best subjects, was asked to come up to the blackboard and show the teacher some geometric shapes with explanations of their interaction!  Well he hadn’t much of a clue but what he did was still amazing.  He was asked to draw a circle with the piece of chalk the teacher handed him – and he did.

He quickly drew on the board a large and “perfect” circle!  And I mean perfect!  Utterly and precisely perfect!

Now whether he was any good at art I wouldn’t know, but his hand and eye co-ordination, computation of angles and so forth was quite astonishing!  My point is he didn’t know what an astonishing a gift he had.

I have a feeling out there in the wide wide world there are an awful lot of brilliant artists and we just haven’t seen them yet – and probably apart from the odd Michael Angelo or Monet, we never will.