Proud Grandma (and Grandad) Alert!

It was our wedding anniversary last weekend and for a surprise present, our grandsons, aged 9 and 6, gave us a picture which they themselves had painted. Knowing how much I admire the work of artist Julie Dumbarton, they had decided to try and emulate her style. Their subject was to be a view from our window. They did lots of research first, looking at photos of Julie's paintings and noting for instance her bold brush strokes, use of colour and that the colours she chooses are not always the "right" ones for the subject, and the fact that her paintings show an impressionistic representation of the scene, rather than a realistic one. They even got their mum to drive them past our house (without our knowing!) so that they could check the view. Unfortunately it was a bit foggy that day and they couldn't see it properly, so instead they looked on Google images, and added some bits from memory. This is one of my photos of the scene, which I see straight ahead of me through the window when I'm sitting at my desk in my craft room. (The boys didn't use this photo to paint their picture from.)

And here's their picture.

The method they used to construct the picture is interesting. Their mum cut four sections of paper for them and they each painted two sections, which were then put together.

Here's a closer look at the detail.

Have a look at Julie's portfolio and see whether you think they managed to capture her style. I'm biased, of course, but I think they did a pretty good job! We both agreed it was our best present ever!