A Miniature: Yellow Arc

I've completed a second small painting on parchment, very different from the first, Red Teeth, in composition, light and internal scale. The image takes in more of the object, so doesn't appear as much of a closeup, but it is still a detail of a much larger study. Here the object is situated in more of a real space, since we read the blue shape as sky, existing behind the other shapes. The yellow shape carries more light than the blue, and this heightens the illusion of space.

What you see above is the painting, 4 x 3.5 inches in size, the same size as Red Teeth, in an early stage, when I first put a layer of thin color on the parchment ground.




This detail shows the blue, which I thought was done, but then noticed, when seeing it in a slanting light, that it had gotten covered with bits of dust and tiny hairs. (you'll be able to see this better if you click on the image to enlarge it.) Oh dear. I was having as much fun doing this painting as the one before, but I didn't have this problem before. When I tried picking out the dust, all the paint came along with it and left white spots. Oh dear. So I did what I thought was my only option, tried scraping off the paint, and it worked! using a palette knife, the paint scraped off quite easily from the parchment and I was able to start again with the blue layers of paint. Sorry to say I had to scrape a second time, but the third try at painting was a success.

The calfskin parchment is a beautiful velvety feeling surface; because I'm a tiny bit uncomfortable with the idea of painting on an animal skin, I just went into the studio to look at my hand-made paper selection; maybe paper would work just as well. But no paper came close to the feel and look of parchment. I'm thinking of trying to stretch it over a wood panel, so the painting won't have to be framed; it might also solve the not-flat, a bit wavy, result of wetting the parchment during the painting process. I believe the paint, tempered with egg white, is tough, so won't have to be protected by glass.

Yellow Arc, tempera on parchment, 4 x 3.5 inches

I am so enchanted by this process of working on a small size, where I feel intensely tied to the surface of the painting by precisely observed details. My focus and attention are heightened; my brushwork must be exact, but this is a thrill and not a chore. I feel as though I'm becoming addicted. And where else would I be able to paint with 24 ct gold, limning a border around the image?

To give a sense of size, here's a photo that I shot of Yellow Arc leaning against the painting Black V: an amusing illusion ensues.