A New Painting: "Facing Green"

Facing Green, egg tempera on calfskin parchment, 6 1/2 x 8 5/8 in. 

After doing three painting of still life based on cloth shapes, (here's one), I thought I'd return to my long-time subject matter of agricultural implements. I believe that I will continue to do both going forward; each subject provides enough interest in color, light, and composition, and is different enough from the other that they will continue to engage me. I like the frontality of Facing Green, the big rectangle at the right, the forms emerging from the dark.

I couldn't resist putting in that tiny square of light on the dark field––it was there in the original photo, but in a different place, and I left out a circle cut out of the green––as it echoes the big green squarish shape, so bounces the eye back and forth.

Here is a detail of the large shape, so that you can see the variation in the paint color and handling, as I try to keep the surface lively. If you click on the image to enlarge it, you'll see it even better, likely over life size. I enjoy the crisp edges and geometry of this machinery, a nice shift from the more organic shapes of cloth.