This month’s return of the annual “’Scapes” landscape exhibit, features 143 scenes of our external world — vistas and details, representational and abstract. One such scene that caught juror Jonathan Linton’s eye was November Morning, a watercolor by Web Bryant. Linton awarded November Morning the Potomac Valley Watercolorists’ Award for the best watercolor in the exhibit, praising the piece as a relatable moment and the different elements working together: a figure and a structure within nature.
We asked Web to tell us more about the painting, his background as a newspaper illustrator, and his work in general.
What draws you to landscapes, and what would you say is most important to a successful landscape?
Web: My grandmother’s couch. Really! One of my early childhood memories is the fabric on her couch — a repeated image of a dirt road going through large trees. As far a successful landscape? It has to stop the viewer, and to connect with them at some personal level.
You come from a journalism background — how has that storytelling element informed your work? What role do you think stories play in landscapes, the theme of the show?
Representational art and journalism are based on the narrative. Winslow Homer started out as a newspaper illustrator covering the Civil War. His work always told a story. He is a starting point for me. Landscape painting works best for me when I can see and capture a place and time — say a sunrise on a cold beach.
What inspired this painting — does it depict an actual place or event?
I did this painting for a number of reasons, but the most personal was trying to capture blue sand. I grew up in a beach town, Virginia Beach. Natural dune lines in late autumn in morning light cast a blue shadow. That is what I wanted to capture. It is one of my “I’m going to remember this and paint it one day” paintings.
Read more after the jump! Continue reading Q&A with Award Winner Web Bryant