Blue Danube

I'm delighted to be able to share this piece with you; since putting all of my things into storage I began to doubt that I had actually kept it as I remember the glass in the frame smashing several years ago. This is the earliest piece that I can find so really this shows where my artwork all began. The date on the back is 31/01/2001 so it is nearly 20 years old (I was just 14 when I drew this).

From what I can remember I either used oil pastels or chalk to create this piece, and the thing that always stays with me is that it is drawn on blue sugar paper, which really enhances the tone of the drawing, especially in the water and the sky. This scene feels very dreamlike to me and I love the different textures, in particular the reflections in the water which I feel have real depth. A few angles are slightly off and I'm not too happy with the black elements of the page which don't always look like part of the picture. What I do really like is that this reminds me of the chalk drawings on slabs in Mary Poppins - I almost feel like I could jump into this picture! I also really like the sense of motion that I feel I have managed to capture; from the water, to the boat, to the train and the smoke billowing from it - for quite a tranquil image there is a lot going on.

I never gave any thought to the figures in this picture, but as a big fan of American Horror Story (specifically Coven), I've decided that they could be Cordelia Goode and Myrtle Snow.

I played with camera filters on this to tone up the blue or give it warmth and contrast in preference to using Prisma which didn't enhance the image it all.