Back Bay Quick Draw

 

Twighlight

 

Curatorial Review

Curatorial Review

At the end of 2023 I began to paint "small" paintings.  I had never really painted smaller that 24"x24".  After 40 years of painting large paintings I began the process of figuring out how to paint in a different way.  Larger paintings allowed me put in all the detail I wanted.  My first efforts at smaller paintings were unsatisfying.  I did not want to sacrifice the detail so I changed the way I painted.

The following paintings are examples of my recent direction

Last Gasp 6"x6" oil on gesso board.

Mountain Shadows 6"x6" oil on gesso board

Into the Canyon 8"x8" oil on canvas

Laguna Sunset 16"x12" oil on gesso board

How was I going to be able to get the detail I was looking for in a small painting without using really tiny brushes forever? Building the painting from light to dark.  This process is counter to everything I had learned and done as a painter for 40 years.

Layering progressively darker and darker values with thick paint and not  allowing the paint to dry enables me to workback into the lighter values by scraping away the darker values to get to the highlights.

The thick paint application allows for a significant increase in the amount of texture within the painting.  When I start subtracting that paint with a shaper the level of detail increases dramatically.

Irvine Park 12"x16" oil on gesso board

The following detail shots show the underlying detail created through my process

Laguna Sunset

Recently adopted some new techniques out of necessity. 

While painting some small paintings, I had to figure out how to build detail in a very small format 6"x6".

Usually I block in the dark values and work lighter and lighter. The highlights being the final touch.

In this technique I tone the canvas with the lightest colors in all areas.  This is counter to what I have learned throughout my painting experiences. 

Instead of building dark to light I am building light to dark.

This requires a change in the way I see the painting and the way I think about the painting process.

It is kind of like painting in watercolor. The idea of preserving the light areas of the painting.  It is more than that as well.

In this technique I put down layer after layer of thick paint.

In order to impose detail and expose more highlights I use color shapers.

I use the color shapers to push the paint and to subtract color to expose greater detail in the highlights.

This is my 7th painting using this technique.  I am sure I will refine this process.  It has really made me think more about what and how I build a painting.

 Laguna Sunset 16x12 oil on gesso board.

Late Afternoon Drama