i couldn't get the painting of the two party girls in the portfolio without mucking up the edges i so decided to leave it at home and finish when we returned home in the spring. i had drawn the current work before we left and as it is only 11"X15" it fit in the portfolio just fine. it's on 300# cold press arches paper that is a little rougher than the fabriano i am more used to.
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| after the first hour or so of painting |
i started with loose washes of scarlet lake, brilliant orange, manganese blue and covered the face, figure, and part of the background somewhat arbitrarily. i made sure that this variegated wash connected with the sides of the paper to anchor the whole thing in several places. this going out of the boundaries gives the illusion of looseness when in fact i painted this rather slowly and deliberately to get the colors where i wanted them. smoke in mirrors is this stuff of looseness. it's really a state of mind, i think charles reid once said that, rather than a state of brush.
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| at the end of work today...another hour |
when this dried completely, in this case overnight, i started on the features. i used a #10 round kolinski brush initially and then switched to a #16 round cosmotop as i found myself getting a little tight with the smaller brush. the colors were the ones i used on the initial wash but with cerulean blue substituting for the manganese and using vermillion and raw sienna in places. there is touch of arbitrary color on her *right* temple and under her lower lip which is prussian blue mixed with some of the reds and yellows. there is also some quinacridone gold, burnt sienna, and mineral violet in her hair. that is all for today.
I would call it calculated looseness . I like this kind of loose control , and I like the way you use colors , really beautiful.
ReplyDeletethanks again, jane, for your comments. good description of the technique....i'll have to use it with your permission.
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