February 5, 2010

Working on "Triangle and Curves"



After building up several layers of paint overall on Triangle and Curves, I decided to finish the left side of the painting first, with its large curves and dark canyon. I painted the interior dark many times over, lighter to darker and back again, and again, until I got the value and depth of color that looked convincing to me. An especially sticky problem was the line of light coming up from below that created a reflection on the red surface. I liked having this bright line: it showed that the vertical plane sank below the horizontal, giving an idea of unseen form. But it sure was difficult to get the right balance of value and color so that the thin strip of light made sense.

Another problem was the inside lip, a rounded form running along the curve. When I look at it now, the one on the left looks too wide, on the right a bit too narrow. Also, the curve on the left juts forward a bit too much; the curve should be more gentle. And I thought I had finished this section of the painting....




I've also begun to add layers of color to the right side of the painting, building a base of opaque light color on the sunlit areas which I can then glaze, for a rich effect, with darker tones.

2 comments:

  1. the top detail is very O'Keffeian, the bottom quite Gustonian. what a combination! I'm glad I'm on this side of the fence though, the viewer's side, easy - rather on the side that has to work to make this work.

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  2. Your comment made me laugh, rappel, at the art references; I would never have thought to equate O'Keefe's sensuous flower paintings with a red machine, but there it is: that mysterious deep space. oh my.

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