The original painting is a large-format oil painting that was carefully created using the artistic technique of 'oil on canvas'. It was created on the basis of another work by the artist, whereby the archaic motif of a 'gorge with a watercourse surrounded by high rock faces' was occasionally taken up in new variations during different phases of his artistic career. Of course, it was not simply copied from the previous painting, but created anew from memory each time. The rock faces in this work are enormously high and almost impossible for people to climb, although there are a few who manage it. They border the gorge on both sides. In the freely designed center of the painting, the viewer's gaze opens up into the distance, which is crowned by a few finely crafted rays of light. Directly below, still in the relative center of the picture, a small waterfall pours over boulders and has been doing so for a long time, considering that it is a river. The water should flow slowly and leisurely there, as it is fed by the small waterfall, which does not move the masses of water quickly. The reflection of the rock faces in the water is slightly distorted, as if a breeze were sweeping across the surface of the water, creating slight ripples that soften the image somewhat. The vegetated and moss-covered bank on the right is particularly remarkable, breaking up the relative symmetry of the picture. This makes the composition more interesting to the eye of the attentive viewer.

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Water Valley by Silvian Sternhagel. Available as an art print on canvas, photo paper, watercolor board, uncoated paper or Japanese paper.
oil painting · artistic technique · canvas · plant · artist · motive · rock walls · distance · rays of light · waterfall · boulders · flow · water · reflection · water surface · ripples · riverbank · symmetry · composition · archaic · artistic · free · fine · remarkable · greened · mossy