Black Curve, Red Bar, egg tempera on calfskin parchment, 6 1/4 x 8 1/2 in.
Even though this painting does not have any direct sunlight in it, it feels bright to me because of the intense blues and the red of the almost-central bar. I thought of dulling that red, but then decided to take a chance that it wouldn't look too strong. I think/I hope that the brilliance of the blue and the strong dark of the black cylinder give it all a sense of balance; as does the horizontal and vertical composition, leavened by the one diagonal and the black curve.
I only realized that I was doing a series of red, or rusted, bar pictures after I was finished with the second and about to work on this one. I gather lots of images each summer for the year's painting; I don't why I worked on these three in close succession.Perhaps working on a theme with variations is something to think about moving forward, as I do occasionally with my textiles, which you can see in this blog post.) Farmers will be readying their equipment for the new season's work, so I'll be heading out searching for motifs very soon.
fascinating the play between the turning away of the black tube and the descending diagonal - immaediately thought of the ballet with the principal dancers doing what principal dancers do and the chorus providing the counterpoint.
ReplyDeleteThat's a wonderful metaphor, tony, one that never would have occurred to me; thanks!
Deletenice addition to this (so far) trio,,, which to my eye are all speaking different languages despite their commonality....
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad for your comment, rappel. I'd been thinking that the moods of the three paintings were quite different, so you confirm that.
DeleteI think I like this one the best out of the three, although I'm also partial to the one with two curved tubes. The space in the most recent painting is more shallow, which perhaps allows the eye to dwell more on it's abstraction.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Mona, about the shallow space seeming more abstract.
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