Thursday, December 2, 2010

Combining Creation

I had intended to paint a picture of a diving helmet. I painted a rough version of it, but got bored of it.  I wasn't learning anything.  It was a little too complex for a study, and not very fulfilling as a painting. I borrowed it from a friend who is a diver. It was fun to play with though.  I put it on. it weighed a ton

At the end of a full day of painting, I looked at what I had done, and felt nothing toward it, so I scraped the entire canvas down, but there was so much black and yellow on the canvas, that it stained it green.  So I let it dry and used this as a base coat for a new painting. 

I am very interested in the way certain painters handle their paint and application.  I've been reading about the limited palette Sargent was known to use (yellow ochre, black, vermillion (cad. red in my case).  Ivory Black is very blue, and when it is placed near warm colors, the blue is even more apparent.

I opted for the Sargent portrait of Lady Agnew and Michelangelo's God from the Sistine Chapel - combined into one image. I liked the beauty of the Sargent face and the technical virtuosity of his strokes.  A beautiful face and I have painted it before. I can see how much more competent I have gotten since painting it the first time over a year ago. I wanted a profile to accompany the young girl, and opted for another favorite of mine. Michelangelo.  I originally was planning on the Delphic Sibyl - to have two pretty faces 300 years apart, but the strong profile of the old face seemed even more fitting.

This was purely an exercise in using a limited palette.  It forced me to work on my drawing too.

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