Woman with Dog, in progress

 

Woman with Dog, in progress

oil on linen, 18 x 14 inches

Sometimes a painting asserts its own direction, as if it knows what it needs independent of my intentions. The chair refused every solution I offered, shifting from a simple seat to a couch extending to the right edge of the canvas. When the chair finally settled into a size and place that felt right, it began to reject the red color I envisioned. I tried one red after another, yet none took hold. Only when I mixed a green did the chair immediately look right, as though the painting had been guiding me there from the start.

Meanwhile, the window remains to be resolved. My plan now is to add a house whose roofline slant will echo the angle of the figure’s leg and guide the viewer’s eye back into the image. Below is a quick ink study over a photo showing how the scene will be composed.

ink and color pencil over a photo

Woman with Dog will appear in my upcoming solo exhibition at Adelson Galleries in New York, opening November 6.