When I finished up in the studio yesterday, I was at this point in progress on a new painting. It is a 20″ by 60″ canvas that was started with only the thought that it would be curtained in by two layers of tree trunks on each side. The basic composition of the entire piece is laid in in an underpainting of red oxide and there are a numbers of layers of color in the sky, beginning to give shape to the tone of the painting.
It has definition and purpose now. A forseeable destiny.
This is one of my favorite stages of my process. The bones and form of the painting have been created, the decisions concerning composition made, and the painting begins to stir to life. There is a keen sense of sharpness to it at this point, as though the essence of its being has been boiled down and captured in this layer of red oxide paint.
Like a revealing of its soul.
The layers that will follow will give detail and nuance to round out its wholeness. It’s interesting to watch it go from this sharply defined revelation of self through the series of transformations brought on by each subsequent layer of color. There will be points when this sharpness will fade completely away, leaving the piece dull and flat–barely alive.
Sallow. Like a patient on a respirator.
At that point, I sometimes finding myself questioning my prior decisions and asking if the piece will ever come back to life. This comes near the end and, disheartening as it sometimes is, would be my least favorite part of the process if not the fact that I have the knowledge of and confidence in what will soon take place on the canvas.
The layers of color come quicker and consist of fewer strokes but each small move now seems to bring more and more of a change to the piece. The soul of the painting that once filled the canvas in the completed underpainting above now begins to reveal itself again in its fullest form.
Now, that being said, it what I hope happens. Sometimes it just doesn’t. But sometimes the soul of the piece is revealed so strongly at this point that it will not be denied.
And that’s what I believe will be the case with this piece. At least, that is the hope. We shall see…
Redtree Times 