Gesso

Posted on January 21, 2009 by pearce

I’ve been laying down lots of gesso today, preparing the tall canvases for painting and getting those spheres that Justice and Temperance are standing upon ready for gold. The two virtues have had at least four thick coats to get rid of the weave of the canvas. Once I no longer see the fabric beneath the paint I’ll put a final layer of red base down then gild them. I painted the background of Justice white, so now she’s a white figure emerging from a white background, which I’m thoroughly enjoying, since I’m often attracted to a very dark background half-concealing shadowy figures.

 

Tomorrow we’ll have the distinct pleasure of having a model in the studio who’s pregnant. I am completely delighted that she’s coming in, and looking forward to making some paintings of her. Fabulous! I’m interested in painting the alchemical Adam and Eve on those two tall panels.

I’m hoping that she’s return when her baby is born and model for us then, with new born. Awesome!

 

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Themis

Posted on January 20, 2009 by pearce

I’ve been working on giving Justice her sword and scales. The sword is a hefty broadsword behind her back, her scales hang suspended in the air below her hand. In the first swipe at the metal of the sword I laid down a pale blue layer that will serve as the base for the work that is to come. I began work on the scales, and for some reason I remembered John Dee’s monad, wondering if it was somehow linked with the image of Justice. This lead me into a line of research looking at relationships between the virtues and the planets, the gods they were connected to and the symbols thereof. 

Justice has to be associated from Libra because of her scales.

Weird problems posting images, so I’ll have to wait until the server’s working properly to show what I’ve done.

In addition to working on the scales and sword I added a thick layer of gesso to the sphere, getting ready for the leaf. I think they will need an additional two or three layers, then a healthy sanding to get a nice surface for the gold to lie on.

 

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Return from the wilderness

Posted on January 19, 2009 by pearce

I went fishing up at Bass Lake, in the beautiful pine covered mountains to the East of the central valley of California, with my son’s scout troop of sixteen boys. We were all crammed into two small chalets beside the lake. It was a zoo! Everyone caught a fish and the boys took home three rainbow trout each, and all of them caught at least one fish. I plan to barbeque my share tomorrow afternoon, and I’ve invited my colleagues to join me. I can’t think of a better way to start the new semester!

By the way, I caught some whoppers… awesome fishing. Wow, I’m tired.

I dropped into the studio this evening to put gear away and to take a look at the work I did before I left. I’ll work on the face of the Geomantic Man again tonight after I’ve had a chance to take a shower. 

I hope that everyone has enjoyed their holiday weekend as much as I have. A new world begins tomorrow. President Obama! 

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Messy

Posted on January 16, 2009 by pearce

In Santa Barbara this morning to meet with Mitchell and Lukas the technical director who is responsible for building the tree. We had a good meeting discussing how the tree would work with the play, establishing some ideas for different scenes including a table with flourescent lights in it, Kabuki confetti and streamers, magic tricks and some clever lighting. I still have to figure out how the heart of the tree is going to work.

I seem to have had two left hands today, everything I tried to do in the studio this afternoon was a wreck. I dropped a gallon of gesso onto the shelf of my big (and very expensive) easel, pouring paint all over it and the floor, with lots of it finding its way into the drawers full of a hundred paintbrushes which all then needed to be cleaned. Paint everywhere! Yike. Fortunately no paintings were hit, and the floor’s already covered in paint, so no major harm was done, but I lost time. I managed to put a coat of gesso onto the globes beneath the feet of  Justice and Temperance, and to do some long put off work on the head of the Geomantic Man. I’ve never really loved the head, and I’m going to turn it into the sun instead – far more appropriate for this painting.

Stuff it. I’m going fishing.

 

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Andrew Wyeth

Posted on January 16, 2009 by pearce

Rest in Peace Andrew Wyeth. I’ve always admired your work, dedication to technique and care for the world you lived in. Thank You.

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Temperance gets a new look

Posted on January 15, 2009 by pearce

I didn’t get much time in the studio today, being involved in preparation for the new semester, shows coming into the gallery and whatnot, but did get to work on Temperance when I got a spare hour this evening. I committed to not having the two figures in the lower half of the piece, and rejected the formulaic halving of the vertical plane by painting a fairly dense layer of that lovely Prussian Blue over it. I just love the capability that this pigment has of being so dark that it’s almost black, then dropping off with a little thinning out with a rag, or fingertip into a lovely rich blue on the edges of things, letting them fade into the darkness. Scrumptious! Anyway, I like this new look a lot more, and it’s coming close to completion now. It’s been a long saga making this piece, it seems.

I’m seriously considering gilding the sphere she’s standing on, even though this would be a total pain in the bum, having already painted so much of the surface. I’ll need to gesso the area, sand it without getting dust on the already painted surfaces, then gild to an edge that’s already painted.

You’ll notice the similarity between this piece and Amelia Beheads the Alchemical King. It’s the same model in both pieces: Caitlyn Carradine, the beautiful dancer and choreographer, grand-daughter of the famous actor John Carradine. She’s Amelia Earheart in this one as well, who better than a dancer to become an aviator angel?

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Amelia is finished

Posted on January 14, 2009 by pearce

I painted a glaze of Ultramarine Blue over the background of Amelia, dropping the halo back and putting a nice blue edge to the hand and some of the stones. I’ve always enjoyed that softening of the edges by using the blue, it makes things recede into darkness very nicely. You can still see the streams of light going to her hand in the actual painting, but they’re not so clear in this picture.

So, “Amelia Beheads the Alchemical King” is finished! Here she is:

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New images of old works, other loose ends

Posted on January 14, 2009 by pearce

I never got round to taking good quality photographs of a few smaller paintings that I’ve always been fond of. They came at the beginning of the more mystical journey that I’ve been on for several years now, at a transition point when I was about to leave a small, rather conservative college in order to join the more liberal University I teach at now. I think that these paintings really get that sense of chrysalis, especially the self portrait holding the circle. Perhaps they’re getting my attention again now that I’m in another major transition, slowly but surely finding a new life for myself and my children.

I like the wiped away French Ultramarine blue, covering but revealing the figures underneath. It could be interpreted as disrespectful treatment of the careful work of the portrait, but it makes the painting illusory.

I’m planning to start sketching for the tall pieces later today. Justice and Temperance need attention too, and I suspect that I’m going to do away with the two figures in the foreground of Temperance, because they bother me every time I look at them. I don’t think they add anything to the image, and they make it preachy rather than offering the simple message of avoiding over-indulgence in anything. I dislike preachiness, I’d rather people figure it out for themselves.

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Cleaning up the galleries

Posted on January 13, 2009 by pearce

I spent a little time this evening cleaning up the galleries you can find here on the site, and adding some commentary to images that have hitherto remained unexplained. Visit the Gallery of Works and enjoy the links there.

Earlier in the day I drove up to Santa Barbara to meet with Mitchell to talk more about the play. I delivered the drum and the rain-sticks, and went to check out the Casa de la Raza, which is one of the venues for the piece. I delivered my plan for how the tree will look, now it’s up to the technical director to figure out how to build it. I expect to spend much of next week up there working with him to create the branches and rig the fabric and lighting that we will need. 

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Almost the end of Amelia

Posted on January 12, 2009 by pearce


I darkened Amelia’s feet, lightened the hand and jacket with a touch of zinc white, then used the same zinc white to enhance the aura about the orb just a little. A few highlights here and there, and that’s that. I might tweak the halo around the orb a little more, because I’m not quite satisfied with it. Other than that, I will do a coat of transparent Prussian Blue over the sky to darken it and bring some blue edges into the white of the halo.

Amelia Beheads the Alchemical King. 48″ x 72″, Oil on Canvas.

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