This painting was born on a quiet beach of Amorgos, Greece. A photograph taken from the edge of a fragile pier.

Pier of Levrossos beach

Powerful reflections playing with surface create by contrast this dark emerald green. My daughter flies right under the surface. Varnish was not dry yet when the painting was booked by a charming collector from Florida. She allowed me to feature it in two parisian exhibitions before shipping it above the atlantic ocean.

Antoine Renault’s painting – cover of the art issue of 71% magazine

A year later, the art director of “71%” asks for the copyrights in order to make the cover of a special art issue of his magazine. By the way, I quite like the name of it. Man is a being of water (65%) living on a planet of water (71%). Readers of this magazine enjoy it in their very own way, sailing on yachts of 150 feet and above. They will be 10 000 of them flipping this magazine through, in english or mandarin language.

In case you can’t own that kind of boat yet, you can still order the magazine there 🙂

This has been the same ritual over the last 25 years: those regattas are the hit of summer on my favorite island, Noirmoutier.

Their poster as well. Everyone is waiting for it. Most islanders can’t wait to add it to the collection they already have on the walls of their ocean side villa, or on those of their Paris apartment. Quite a few painters I admire have been asked to contribute in the past. I considered it a privilege to be asked to paint this last one.

“En régate au Bois de la chaise” ©AntoineRenault2015 acrylic on canvas

My first is a great collector. My second is a painting with magic waves. My third is a generous photographer. My whole comes below.

“Gone surfing” © Antoine Renault 2015 Acrylic on canvas 61×41′

 It all starts when it’s over. When you resist the temptation of adding any additional stoke. Drop the brush. Draw the signature. No way back. This decision is one of the 4 key ingredients that really make a canvas: subject, frame, format, … end the moment you stop. Between the last 2 steps is a quite unsure path, random, intuitive.

The day I finished “Felicita”, I thought that I would always be able to find this path from now on. This is an image I felt like painting for a while. I chose to keep this piece in my personal collection. A tiny personal milestone.

When Melissa wrote from Calgary, it was for « Felicita »… A series of mails later, I got to know a nice person. She can be as fast having a crush for art… as she is patient with the commission progress. She wants a painting for her sweet home at the foot of Canadian mountains. Something that can remind her of those South American surf spots during the cold snowy evenings in winter. « Felicita » is the perfect choice… except that it is not allowed to escape. Some more weeks sharing pictures, looking for the perfect subject. One finally does the deal. A powerful one. Melissa wants it large.

When I wrote to Sarah, it was for Melissa. Sarah Lee has been amongst my favorite photographers for a while. A gifted Hawaiian artist. She sometimes shares projects with another one of my favorites : Mark Tipple. She captures water exactly like I love to paint it. I already did 2 projects based on her work. I ask for a license to paint. Just before diving into the jungle of Bali, she said OK.

I took my bike. Went buy a frame. Large one. And a roll of cotton canvas. Long one. Few weeks later, a tube was flying to Alberta.

© Sarah Lee – Sunset me free

Acrylique sur toile – 2011

[Show as slideshow]