‘Tequila Sunrise’
is a stunning, contemporary artwork created with effortless lines and stripes
150cm x 150cm (59″ x 59″)
Atomic Butterfly
£4900
‘Tequila Sunrise’
A reminder of the good things
Tequila Sunrise is a square original painting made up of horizontal (or vertical if you prefer) lines and stripes. It features a collection of beautiful orange and yellow tones together with accents of red, magenta, black, metallic purple and white.
In many ways it reminds me of a sunrise (hence the name) on some golden shoreline somewhere warm and relaxing. Maybe you can see for miles across the headland and into the distance where the sun meets the sky? Perhaps from the vertical it reminds you of a waterfall as the water cascades down and the mist rises up. I see so many real-world references in the painting which makes it very easy to connect with.
How it was created
At first glance these kinds of painting may appear like they’re easy to do. Well, it may surprise you to learn that stripes and line paintings are among the most difficult of all the techniques I have at my disposal.
This is for a number of reasons but primarily it’s for two reasons. First is the paint’s ability to travel from one side of the canvas to the other. This is a process that’s very difficult to judge as paints have different flow rates and viscosities – so achieving the perfect pour that means I get an even distribution across the surface is a very complex thing.
Secondly, it’s about the straightness of the lines. The natural movement of paint is to find the path of least resistance so forcing and coaxing paint into a perfectly straight line is demanding and stressful. There are other reasons too but I could go on and on about that! So let’s just say that these require a lot of effort and concentration to create!
Wait, there’s more…
If you would like to see how I did this then you can watch the replay of the entire live stream broadcast where I painted it, from start to finish, on camera (well, four cameras to be precise!).
It was quite the journey and you can see exactly how each line was applied, how much paint fell off it (spoiler alert: it’s a LOT!) and also the full commentary on my processes and techniques as well as being able to relive the pressure that started to feel as the stream went further on in time.
This is as real as it gets and most artists simply don’t tackle this kind of thing – and certainly not live on air for the whole world to see.
But I’m glad I did because what came out was something utterly magnificent and worth every ounce of effort.
