a work in progress

I continue to build depth and blend and soften with thin washes. This photo shows the eight foot panels on the ground and the four foot panels on the wall with the squares directly on top of them. It is a bit distorted, but I can only lay out a few at a time and this is the closest I can get to showing how it will be displayed until the painting has been hung. Since I took this photo, I have added a very subtle iridescence to the vertical masses. These are only easily seen on the dark brown in this photo, but are scattered across the lower portion of all the eight foot panels. I have done much blending and softening of these areas and softened the limbs and upper portions. I have begun painting the edges raw umber. There will be more glazing and a varnish before I install the hanging hardware and sign this painting. I’m looking forward to seeing it after it has been installed and I’m excited about how it will work in the space.

Still working on the commission for the atrium of an office building. It is about halfway done in these photos. I took these shots with a flash and the colors are a bit off. It is less red and more brown than it appears. It’s just a quick shot of it as it develops. There will be many more layers of paint before this is completed, but it is at last possible to get an idea of where it is headed. I’m tired and happily about to kick back after a hard week, so this post is short and sweet.

I drew some lines for reference on the canvas and sketched in the dominant forms on each of the 15 canvasses using a thin mixture of cadmium red light and medium and referring to my gridded sketch for placement. These banch-y areas will ultimately be the chocolate brown my client wants to see in this piece, as will the inch and a half thick sides. I began working in the colors and forms to surround these branching areas and this picture show how I am stacking the canvasses to ensure continuity.
All the colors in this piece were selected by the client who gave me swatches in leather and paint chips. I did some preliminary color studies with the colors I had in the studio and ordered the paints I needed: red oxide, yellow oxide, pthalo blue, white, raw umber and burnt umber. I also picked up some gloss medium and retarder to slow the drying and allow me to do more blending on the canvas. When the paints arrived I declared myself a color genius as I mixed colors to match the swatches with great ease. I did then some more color studies and drew out the branching forms on my diagram, creating a composition which will draw the viewers eye upward to take in the 14′ painting and thus, hopefully, appreciate the beauty of the high ceilinged atrium. The painting will be viewed from three different levels, the ground floor, the landing on the stairwell, and the second floor. It is fun to work for a client with definite ideas about what they’d like and to know in advance where a painting will be displayed. It is interesting how having parameters creates a momentum for creative expression. This client was being considerate when she jokingly said she didn’t want to ask me to prostitute my art, but I really love working with a clear objective in mind. Years ago, while doing some sketches and color studies, a friend I did some custom paintings for said she didn’t want to tell me what she wanted so she wouldn’t interfere with my artistic process and then after I had completed one of the two paintings let me know it wasn’t what she had in mind. Her second piece went much better since she had then comminicated her desires for HER art. I learned a lot from that experience and have done a lot of commissioned pieces of furniture that meet my clients’ specific needs and vision. I ask more specific questions about color, location, desired impact, and use and sometimes view photos and color swatches. Working on a commissioned piece is a combination of creative problem solving, artistic vision, and good communication and it is a lot of fun.

The rolls of canvas finally arrived and I had to stretch it. Each roll was 63″ wide and 9 yards long. I lay the canvas on the floor, reminded myself to measure twice, cut once, and cut the panels. I used a staple gun to attach them to the canvas. After three of the 8 foot panels were stretched, nice and tightly, my hands were hurting a lot. I took lots of little breaks, tried wearing gloves, but there was nothing to do but carry on. Robin helped me with the smaller canvasses when she got in since it looked like my fingertips were going to start bleeding from the rough texture of the canvas. All were done after midnight and I did a little dance and tried to clap, but ouch, no clapping. I woke up early today with my hands swollen to twice their normal size, unable to move my fingers and my right forearm enlarged and tight. After about an hour of massaging my arm and icing my hands a bit, I can type, but even that hurts. I need to invest in a power staple/nail gun before I take on another painting on this scale. The panels look great and I am eager to paint but my hands cannot do it today.