A little more work on the structure of the painting has made the shape of the piece even clearer, and I’m really enjoying the process. Continuing our work of using chalk and blue pencils to establish different features of the composition, now we’ve lined the cracks between the slabs in the marble courtyard in which [...]
With a couple of hours in the studio yesterday I managed to achieve a couple of tasks that were both important for making the paintings effective, but neither producing particularly interesting photographs for the blog. I got to work on the Angel, putting a glaze of Olive Green over the peacock feathers, dropping them further [...]
With a little sketching and contemplation the composition is becoming clear, and more lines are on the canvas to guide the drawing of the Virtues. My students have been invaluable help because much of this work requires three people simply to draw a straight line across the wall! I’m very excited about working with them. [...]
We’ve begun the tricky business of creating the layout of the painting, exploring the composition by arranging the structures of the painting according to the golden ratio correspondences that are available to us as a result of the arrangement of the space. The sides of the giant triple chair that sits in the centre of [...]
I continued working out the composition in Photoshop, creating an elevation of the wall with the furniture in place so that I can see how the figures are going to work in relationship to the environment. I’m looking forward to continuing with the work when my students are here and can get involved. Last night [...]
Today was crazed, in a good way. It started right off the bat at nine by setting up for a photo shoot for the Virtues painting, with my student Devon modeling for the four cardinals, Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice. I loved the shot we got for Temperance – she looks like a ballerina with [...]
Joseph worked hard today to complete the gesso coat on the wall, finishing off the third layer. I’m almost happy with the way it looks, but I think we’ll do a bit of touch-up work on a few spots which still look a little thin. If you don’t properly cover the canvas the paint will [...]
I’m swamped with administrative work for the new semester, so painting has had to wait for a short time until we get started. I’m particularly looking forward to beginning my Life Painting and Drawing classes, because working from a model in the studio offers a greater challenge to the artist because of the slight (although [...]
Do you remember Slartibartfast’s love of fjords? (He was the eccentric designer responsible for Norway in The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy) I felt a bit like him today while painting the detailed edges of the wings, where the long delicate strands of the peacock feathers trail out from the body of the wings. Using [...]
The first of the eight by eights has been washed with distilled water and now leans against the studio wall drying. I hope that Ethan will be able to help me with the gesso tomorrow so that I can start drawing sooner rather than later. I didn’t get much painting done today, although I did [...]
