Vincent's Olive Tree

This painting is very special for me. . .

I titled it, quite simply, “Vincent’s Olive Tree.” Recently I was watching a documentary on Van Gogh, who is one of my most favorite painters in the world: not for his art, per say, but because of the way he lived. Van Gogh was a very passionate man, and had a very very deep and passionate love for his brother (which I can relate with!). While in Arles, France, and during his stay at a mental institution, Van Gogh would often write his brother Theo about what he was painting. Something in one of his letters inspired this. In the letter, Van Gogh spoke to Theo about how the surrounding countryside had many many olive trees, but that he found it difficult to paint them, because the leaves of the trees were a silver green, which was not a color that was vivid to him, and so did not move him and ergo, were difficult to paint.

That sort of struck me, because the man was a color genius to me. So I thought to myself, if I were a student of Van Gogh, and learning to approach color as he did, how would I handle that? To me, it was a personal challange. Paint an olive tree with silver-green leaves, but make it vivid and moving as a Van Gogh is, without sacrificing personal style.

This painting is a result.

Watercolor and Acrylic on Pressed Canvas. I didn't use any refs for this aside from the brief flash on the documentary of what an olive tree actually looked like: the rest is all my imagination.

The original ~IS~ for sale, but because of the personal meaning in this one, I don’t plan to let it go for peanuts. Please note that this is only a photo of the original painting. Thoughts very much appreciated, and I hope you enjoy it. ^^