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| Only You, in progress, 45" x 75" |
Painters looking at this photo will realize that I paint backwards. I always do the faces first, and then work out the colors of the clothing and environment. A more traditional and time-honored method is to work from back to front, from thinly painted translucent shadows to thicker opaque high-lights - as in a classic Rembrandt.
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| Self-Portrait with Beret Rembrandt van Rijn National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. |
Another traditional approach is under-painting - blocking in some colors at the beginning to help establish the tone and direction of the piece. In my work, however, I prefer to leave the linen surface as white as possible because I believe it gives the overlaying layer of color more luminosity and clarity. If I apply the paint layer to an under-painted surface, I find the color is duller, flatter, because what's underneath influences what's on top - much in the same way that when repainting a room, it will take more coats to successfully hide a darker tone.
The next step for me will be to paint the two large heads on the "movie screen" that fills the right third of the painting. After that, I will begin on the walls which will be varying tones of red.
Below are three photos of details:
The next step for me will be to paint the two large heads on the "movie screen" that fills the right third of the painting. After that, I will begin on the walls which will be varying tones of red.
Below are three photos of details:
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| detail of upper left, approx. 26" x 35" |
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| detail of lower left-center, approx. 28" x 50" |
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| popcorn, approx. 14" x 11" |
