Crucifixion vi

I was able to get a lot done this morning, having only three dedicated students in my little summer school group. They’re all very involved in what they’re doing, so I can make my own work alongside them with relative ease. Summer school keeps me disciplined to make my own work too, and because I’m already in the studio when class is over I have no good excuse but to keep working. I love it. Terry Spehar Fahey is working in the same space, which is wonderful, because she’s a fantastic painter, always producing work, and that’s great motivation. It’s great to look over a respected painter’s shoulder once in a while to see what she’s up to. Her methods are very different to mine.

I digress. I kept working at the crucifixion, finally painting the acacia tree in its place. In reality I painted the sky a shade grayer and let the shape of the tree remain in the silhouette black. I pushed a rag into the paint to soften the hard edges, because I don’t want the tree to come to the front, which it would if it had hard crisp edges. I took some lighter grey paint to paint the branches in front of the moon so that it would feel as though the light from behind was blowing out the colour a bit. 

Here’s the detail: 

 

 

The next layer will be a quick series of highlights on the branches, backlighting them in moonlight. I might bring some blues into the foreground on the edges of the figures to see if that ties the foreground and background together a bit more. I like the spotlight, but I do want the planes of the painting to be in the same place.