Studio Update

I've temporarily relocated the studio to the garage which is less than ideal but the great benefit of it is the tall ceiling.  I'm now able to work on the bigger pieces I've been meaning to, and I've got more space in which to set up everything I need to work.  In the long term, I'll have something a bit more permanent installed, which I'll be posting on as we go along.   

This piece which I've tentatively entitled "Mother" has been a freeing experience so far.  I used the biggest brushes I could find and after slathering the painting in Mixed White, I worked into it with a straight Burnt Sienna.  I'm not terribly concerned with color or even value at this point.  Hardly any of these marks will survive under the layers that will go over it.  But the goal was to establish early a sense of sweep and liveliness in the painting, as well as to mark the obvious areas of light and dark.

When first attempting to paint, what I found most comforting was the idea that there's little difference between the various media within the two-dimensional realm.  Whether you're working with a pen, crowquil, ink brush, watercolor, gouache, acrylic or oil, you're essentially applying the same techniques of mark-making on a flat surface.  All of the principles of composition, value, balance and rhythm apply.  I find this comforting because there are times when I feel the urge to get everything right in the preliminary sketch so that I don't end up regretting anything later into the painting stage.  I remind myself that I'm "drawing", so to speak, in every stage.  And that there really is no "too late."  I can revise anything, paint over anything, or take a painting in a completely different direction if I so choose.  It's simply a matter of putting another mark down. 

Now that I've established the primary areas of focus, I'm going to put this painting down for a little while and then go back to it with fresh eyes.  At that point, I'll go back to my biggest brushes, introduce a cooler palette, and play a bit with looser strokes and textures to accomplish the sweep of the body, remembering not to get too specific so as not to compete too much with the specificity of the two heads.  I'm also planning on a few layers of atmosphere on top of this.  So I know I'm nowhere near finished, and that what I'm seeing here will undergo many shifts and tweaks before I'm through.  Looking forward to it.