Fishbowl

The title of this painting while in progress was Woman with Fishbowl: #2. Now that it's finished, the title has been simplified to Fishbowl.

Fishbowl

2018-2019, oil on linen, 17" x 15"

In my last blog post, I was undecided about the color of the upper half of the wall - light red stripes or pale ivory ones - but as often happens, the final choice was neither. The yellow serves well as a transition from the white wainscoting to her skin tone and then to the orange fish and red blouse.

I also toyed with the idea of including a black cat, Mr. Epps, but he added an element to the composition and the narrative that took the painting in a different direction. And none of the preparatory drawings included a cat.

left: drawing #1  (initial sketch)

2018, pencil on paper, 7" x 4"

right: drawing #4

2018, pencil on paper with green oxide pastel on reverse, 17" x 15"

In the final drawing, the woman was facing outwards, but once I started painting, the narrative began to look as if she was showing or offering the fish to the viewer. As with the cat, that was not really in my vision of the composition. I decided to go with the profile - as she was in the initial drawing - preferring the dynamic of the woman and the fish looking in opposite directions, with neither engaging the viewer.

Woman with Fishbowl: #2, in progress

I've been working on a painting of two artists, twins, in their studio, which is coming along quite well, but have put it aside for a couple weeks to spend some time on a simpler composition of a woman holding a fishbowl - a narrative theme that has recurred in my paintings several times over the years.

Woman with Fishbowl: #2

in progress, oil on linen, 17" x 15"

The background is all that's left to do and my main decision now is what colors to paint the stripes on the upper half of the wall: in light reds or in pale ivory tones. The lower half will be white wainscoting. I'm also toying with the idea of adding a cat - Mr. Epps - in the lower left corner. He's not in the original drawings. Will see. 

I tried a number of colors for the blouse, beginning with blue. As a complementary color to the orange color of the fish, a blue should have created a lively energy, but all the ones I mixed seemed flat instead. Greens and purples were no better, and a dark grey, while seeming hopeful, also didn't work. When I finally tried red, it immediately felt right. The quiet harmony of the orange against the red suited the mood. 

Here are two earlier paintings on the theme:

Woman with Fishbowl

1997, oil on linen, 18" x 18"

Private collection, New York

Claire

1980, oil on masonite, 3.5" x 4.5"

Private collection, Connecticut

Mr. Epps made his first appearance in the above painting, being Claire's cat. Meanwhile, the fish has grown over the years.

Playing with Mr. Epps

Playing with Mr. Epps

10" x 10", oil on linen, 20177

A recurring narrative in my work involves one of two cats: Mookie, a grey tabby, and Mr. Epps, a black cat. Mookie belonged to my son for eighteen years; Mr. Epps to someone I knew in my 20s who had named him after Preston Epps, the bongo player. 

In the drawings for this composition, I was thinking to use Mookie, but when I painted the woman's dark dress I thought the counterpoint of a black note worked better then a grey note.

The composition is based on a triangle - a classical solution that helps creates weight and solidity - and I went with a background of light muted warm tones to further enhance its strength. The ball is the only bright color, and is echoed by the dark red of the chair upholstery and the light red of the horizontal line dividing the upper and  lower sections of the wall.

Playing with Mr. Epps (drawing #3, final)
10" x 10", pencil on paper with pastel tone on reverse, 2017

Besides changing the cat from Mookie to Mr. Epps, the only other significant change from the final drawing to the painting was eliminating the treat on the table top and giving the woman a red ball to hold ... and having both paws on the table instead of one.

Playing with Mr. Epps (drawing #2)

7 1/2" x 7 1/2", pencil on graph paper, 2017

Playing with Mr. Epps (drawing #1)

6 1/4" x 6", pencil on graph paper, 2017

Mr. Epps

I've finished a painting of a woman with a black cat. The colors are an analogous harmony of blues that are enlivened by the warm notes of the woman's face, her hands, and the cat treats on the napkin.

Mr. Epps

16" x 12"     2014     oil on linen

This composition worked out surprisingly quick with only two drawings: the initial quick sketch and then the final.

Mr. Epps, initial sketch

3" x 3"     ink on paper     28  September 2013

Mr. Epps, final drawing

16" x 12"      2 January 2014      pencil on paper

The red, green, and yellow lines visible in the above drawing delineate various sections that I find useful and always put into at least one of the drawings for a particular composition. The red divides the picture into halves with their related diagonals, the green into thirds, and the yellow marks out the "golden sections" and their diagonals. While I don't adhere religiously to any mathematical system, I find the last one especially interesting.

The "golden section" is based on a ratio that was first described ca. 300 BC by Euclid. It has been found in nature and has been used by many artists and architects in a search for harmony and balance. The same ratio exists between successive Fibonacci numbers. Now commonly called PHI (φ), the ratio is 1.618. In the drawing above, the horizontal yellow line just below the woman's lips is placed at .618th of the height and it gave me two diagonals. When I was looking to place the woman's arm, it seemed to work best when its angle followed one of the diagonals. I'm amused by how often lines and placements in a composition feel right when there is a relationship to φ.

Once I began work on this painting, there were only a few changes to the image. The woman's hair was shortened. The cat changed from the grey tabby that I usually paint, to a black cat I knew a very long time ago, named Mr. Epps.  All in all, it's not very often that I go from start to finish with so few drawings and changes along the way. Got lucky this time.

Below are two older cat paintings with the grey tabby, Mookie.

Woman with Grey Cat

6 1/2" x 5"     2013     oil on linen

Private Collection, Massachusetts

Woman with Cat

9" x 7"     2001     oil on linen

Private Collection