I develop a painting by merging keen observation with technical skills and years of practice. My creative process starts on site from direct observation that immediately employs a very sharp optical perception and imagination. I wander through woods or along a stream or canal for hours before finding the perfectly balanced interplay of light and shadow and composition. Often, this requires miles of scenery, a delicate foothold on a steep streambed, or peering around a tree or through knotted bramble bush. My approach makes it impractical to set up an easel for direct plein air work. I often find strict plein air sometimes limits what I want to communicate in my paintings. However, along the way, I make sketches of the details and take photographs to complement my sketches. Once back in the studio, my real work begins, with sketches and photographs becoming reminders of what I aim to capture in my paintings. By this point, I have a comfortable sense of “place” to begin developing my canvas.
I work a la prima, with brush and paint as the only medium that touches the panel. Working small color studies, first on paper, as my first step to getting ready to compose a loose and gestured paint sketch on the canvas. With a sketch in place, I “block in” the masses of shapes and establish the volume and spatial elements within my painting. Over days, or sometimes weeks, I use numerous glazes (layers) of paint to describe the environmental effect and pictorial space I seek to create for my landscape. The multiple glazed layers give the work a characteristic depth and luminosity. My approach begins in direct observation and is enhanced and developed in the studio using a traditional glazing approach. My work draws from my training in classical realism as well as my passion for a post-modern abstract sensibility in my composing a viewpoint.
I strive to make the viewer aware of a fleeting moment of solitude in nature where nature’s quiet and environmental elements create a lasting impression of a specific and personal place and time—the romanced image of a cherished memory.
I sign my work “Gabriel” in dedication to the lasting effect my Italian grandfather had on my love of nature and forests.
David Bottini studied art at The Rhode Island School of Design, The Maryland Institute, and The Savannah College of Art & Design. His choice of landscape subject combines saturated color, classic glazing technique and a sharp focus romantic sensibility. He signs his work as “Gabriel” in dedication to the lasting effect that his Italian grandfather had on his love of nature and forests. David has taught in Washington, DC area prep schools and colleges during the past 20 years and exhibits in art galleries in Washington D.C., Lancaster, PA, Mechanicsburg PA, Santa Fe, NM and Jacksonville, FL. His work is in private and commercial collections throughout the US and abroad.
September Events:
FIRST FRIDAY LANCASTER
September 3rd, from 5 - 9pm
Gallery 141 – Located at 113 N. Water Street, Lancaster
Daily Painters of Pennsylvania Group at The Capitol Building Rotunda
Reception at the Capitol is on Friday September 10th from 3 – 5:30pm
David Bottini, paintings “for Gabriel”
Classic realism with a romantic viewpoint
New Paintings: Seasons and Light at Gallery 141 for September.
First Friday September 3rd, 5 – 10 pm.
Gallery 141, 113 N. Water Street, Lancaster, Pa.
Gallery Walk Day
Harrisburg Art Association
Sunday September 12, from 11 am – 5 pm
Paintings in 3 exhibit venues
