I am working on all the pieces in succession right now. It helps keep me going - a) because the oil paintings cannot be worked for long periods of time, they get very wet; and in the case of pouring paint mixed with stand oil, I lay them flat to control the dripping b) because I am of a restless disposition and ready to be done with these! Let's move on already.
I broke through my hesitation with this piece and risked it getting ugly or making a mistake. There are still more boundaries to push.
This panel is very new and the idea is still in its first stages. I can say that working directly on the panel with charcoal is very satisfying. Look how rich and satiny that black is.
This panel is very new and the idea is still in its first stages. I can say that working directly on the panel with charcoal is very satisfying. Look how rich and satiny that black is.
We are still pushing along on the botanical. It's sort of only a fleeting thought, but I have sought to build these compositions by keeping one side light and working the other to a darker value. That inkling has solidified more with this piece. I seem to be working the left side with little or no water while darkening the right with layers of washes and heavy lines.
I really felt that this piece was dead in the water compositionally. I introduced the medium tone grey to begin building structure and visual hierarchy. It reads really well now online. Perhaps it is really truly finished.
