"Le Comptoir"
18x24"
by Kathryn Morris Trotter
This scene reminds me of a restaurant where my husband and I dined in Paris when we were engaged. The restaurant was called "Le Comptoir," however, this painting it is not an exact replica of what the restaurant looks like. The essence is what I wanted to capture, and I also made a few color adjustments to capture the energy it needed to reflect excitement and life.
I NEVER paint directly from a photograph and render the exact scene that a photo represents. I could just yawn all day in my studio and eventually fall asleep if I thought I needed to copy a photo.... BOOOOORING! In my opinion, those types of paintings seem stagnant, lifeless, and frozen in time. Do you know why I am so in tune with this type of painting?? I used to paint in this way years ago, and I would get so lost in the most ridiculous details that I would loose sight of why I was painting. I would be exhausted by the end of my painting session, and in the end the only thing I could see was my lack of perfection in recreating a photo.
I am glad I can go into my studio and push all the voices out of my head that tell me my painting needs this or that...I say, it is my painting, and it doesn't have to make sense if I don't want it to. I can change any color, add any person, animal, building, or whatever I like to make it work!
I NEVER paint directly from a photograph and render the exact scene that a photo represents. I could just yawn all day in my studio and eventually fall asleep if I thought I needed to copy a photo.... BOOOOORING! In my opinion, those types of paintings seem stagnant, lifeless, and frozen in time. Do you know why I am so in tune with this type of painting?? I used to paint in this way years ago, and I would get so lost in the most ridiculous details that I would loose sight of why I was painting. I would be exhausted by the end of my painting session, and in the end the only thing I could see was my lack of perfection in recreating a photo.
I am glad I can go into my studio and push all the voices out of my head that tell me my painting needs this or that...I say, it is my painting, and it doesn't have to make sense if I don't want it to. I can change any color, add any person, animal, building, or whatever I like to make it work!
