Tuesday, March 13, 2007

March 13 - The first pass on the 12 x 16 Wrangler


I prepped the canvas to get rid of the glaring white (which always messes the values and intensity of the hues I'm mixing) and then quickly delineated the outermost edges of the figure and the two horses. Now you can clearly see how I re-designed the structure, moving the heartbeats up and to the left, giving them all room in which to move. I added in the concept of the diagonal shadows in the foreground, cementing completely the diagonal "X" composition, without even putting in any details. The "X" is formed by the implied direction of the figures counter-pointed by the opposing lines created by the shadow shapes. It is true that the abstract structure of the painting needs to be strong enough to see at the simplest early stages, else the painting might end up weak and unexciting. Even without the lights that will come later, the design is pleasing to the eye. All of the colors are intermixes of at least two hues, establishing the grays against which the more pure colors of the blue jeans and sunlit areas will play. What fun!

Complete blog here.

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