Well, here’s what I’ve come up with for the painting that I’ve been working on over the past two weeks. I added one window, on the central structure (thanks, Brian, for the suggestion) and went with twisting bare trees on the ridge to mirror the road. I also added a little more light in the central section.
And there it is. So far.
There is always the possibility that over the next week or so I may change it in some small way, a highlight here or there. Just little tweaks to fine tune the weight of the piece. When I say weight I refer to the way I look at the painting as though it were suspended from a center point in the painting and each visual element to either side of that point added weight, causing the painting to lean to the side with more visual weight. I try to keep the painting centered and balanced on this center point, changing the weight on each side by adding elements or enhancing those that are there to create more visual interest, by which I mean weight.
Thus far, I like this piece a lot. It has a lot of wallop in the studio with its size, 42″ high by 60″ wide, and its masses of bright red roofs. The feeling of the piece has evolved over the process. I originally felt that the focus and feeling of the piece stemmed from the area where the sky met the far ridge. But the simple addition of one tall window brought the focus down lower to that structure and changed the complete impact of the piece, giving it a feeling of warmth beyond the warmth of the colors. Human warmth.
So that is basically how I paint in my additive or obsessionist style, which is quite different that my typical pieces which are reductive, which means I add lots of paint in a liquid fashion then pull paint off the surface to reach my desired end. I may or may not show that in the future.
So this piece will stay with me for a few more weeks in which time, when I am fully satisfied of its completion, it will be varnished then framed. I use an archival quality varnish with UV protection to prevent fading from normal light over the coming years. I usually use a gloss because I like the added brilliance and depth it adds. The frame comes from my good friend Stephen who has built my frames for about the last twelve years. He generally uses native poplar which gives a fine grain which beautifully accepts the stain that I apply after receiving the raw frames from him. I will talk more about framing in a later post.
The final step is applying a title to the painting. I have a few ideas but am open to suggestions. No contest this time although there may be another in the near future.
But for now, if you have any ideas, let me know…
Redtree Times 