Work in Progress

Since my paintings take quite a while to complete, especially in the summer when gardening activities take so much of my time, I thought I would follow the progress of a new one in this blog. In Yellow Curve, a 24 x 16 inch work, I have the interesting problem of picturing a broad expanse of luminous yellow that should describe a volume. So, the color and value have to be convincing, and the use of the brush must be lively enough to have surface interest but clear enough to show a real form.

These photographs––the whole and the detail––were taken after the first application of color on top of an underdrawing in black ink. The handling is very broad and loose at first, and the drawing not completely accurate. Egg tempera is a translucent paint, so subsequent layers can be influenced by what's underneath. There are often many many layers of paint in one of my works; this first day's work already has several.