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OIL TURKEY
DEMONSTRATION

Mustafa Günen

Imagined Places

Using knowledge of the ocean and other natural elements,
Mustafa Günen paints vast and realistic seascapes

was always fascinated by the water’s
I instability; and I am sensitive to the
slightest change of level, and I find that it
eludes all definition. I developed my own oil
painting artistic style independently over years
to achieve my sole aim: to be the foremost
artist at painting the sea. When people look
at my paintings, I not only want them to
see them but also make them feel as if they
were in them. I usually take imaginary walks
in my photographs and am always inspired
by them. For instance, I really liked the rock
formations in the Grand Canyon and blended
them into a sea painting. There have been
times when I was so inspired by a pond after
Running to the rock, oil on canvas, 110 x 200 cm (43 x 79") a heavy rain that I imagined it as the ocean,
In this work is a composition from Black Sea—the roughest sea of Turkey. The sea was calm. I added and then expressed it on the canvas. In other
the rocky formation in the middle and then I placed exaggerated waves.
words, most of my paintings are the fruit of
my imagination.
My Design and
Composition Tactics
I never draw any composition that I’ve
designed or will make use of on the canvas
before painting, including objects like
humans, animals, boats, houses, etc. I directly
prepare the paint and decide where the light
(sky, horizon) should come from and what
is there in the background, and from that
point I start painting. Starting from the
background, I move to the front and
I paint the canvas with the draft colors of
the composition and cover it all. If the paint
I am going to mix covers a large area on the
canvas, and if I feel a bit lazy, I simply squeeze
the paint tubes one by one onto the canvas
Lonely Boat, oil on canvas, 100 x 140 cm (39 x 55") and then mix them with a brush; thus I paint
This painting shows a view from the southern coastline. Here, originally the beach was short and the space. The color I spread on the canvas is
narrow. I made it rather wide and painted the beach wet as if it was hit by a storm. always right and I have never changed color

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