Hello Again!
and thanks for coming by to visit!
Well, the last entry shared some studies and possibilities for this Monolith
so it's about time i shared someof the MEAT of a painting....the paintin!
Here ...again,is the workspace and a beginning shot to give you all an impression of where and how i work on these Big'uns...
and a picture of the table i've been using... A sturdy beautiful piece by the infamous Bamboo Ben (and a favorite of Doug Horne's whenever he comes over to Artjam). It was created by an artist and has been used by many artists,so hopefully that absorbed mana will CHARGE the air with crackles of creativity!
The materials used on this painting will mostly be acrylic and cel-vinyl paint...I try and use matt acrylics because they mix with the cel-vinyls better ...The third medium i will be using is Decocolor or sharpie paintpen...i try and use that last,but one can go over it with the latter materials as long as the work is given a couple of hearty coats of sealant a few times during the process..... Also, Energy drinks and cigarettes help keep the mind alert for these sessions.
Playing Bach's Mass in B-Minor or Faure's Requiem can also help to enhance the spiritual intensity desired for this work....
Here's a quick catch-up for the steps that were not photographed,due to an oppressive need to begin immediately on it,during the time....
To quote buddy Guy, "When my left eye starts ta jumpin..."
The desire to paint sometimes becomes an all-consuming need that nothing else can quench,
not even a good book or naps!
The first thing i did was to grab a few colors:
teal,yellow,orange,mustard,white,some red,and some nice pool seafoam green.
Burnt umber was originally chosen for the shading,but was replaced by the teal,which provided for a more cool and windy...tumultuous landscape...and the blues would have fun playing with the warms near the bottom,creating optical popping excitements here and there.
Here is the upper left portion of the canvas.... The four winds will be making an appearance in this piece..the four directions,and also of note,the four seraphim around the throne of God are hinted at here (to put them in this painting would be far too distracting), as well as providing thrust for the angels as they careen out of the clouds... In reference to the Seraphim again,in Ezekiel's vision they were pictured flying to and fro,across the corners of the globe,almost like messengers relaying information to the throne...
Also,i began to carry over a favorite theme of Spiritual architecture,the landscape of Heaven and Hell for this painting...For heaven i usually refer to Classical Roman or Medievel sources...the Roman style,for the period during Christ's lifetime,and the architecture of the Middle Ages because of their artistic legacy of Biblical Masterworks...The pillars supporting clouds theme is a motif that has been with these paintings since the early 90's...They were inspired by a dream fo great verdant expanses,bridges leading to nowhere,Roman columns supporting storm clouds,and a field of dancers,naked and each chained by one foot to the sky,a symbol later interpreted as Humanities sometimes reluctant link to the Divine....
Anyways,i thought this would be another appropriate venue for some buildings.
Didn't Christ say "My mansion has many rooms."? Well, here are some of the courtyards and outer facades,at least...
Here's a close-up,where you can see the rough underdrawing before erasing/cleanup. i use a charcoal or water-soluble pencil for the underdrawing,that way it can be wiped off with a damp cloth and gentle swirls,leaving a pristine fancypants painting in it's wake...
This step is before i add the teal shadowing and work over that...
after sketching the figures,i will paint in some rough shadows and lighting,just to get the form of the subjects...After that i tighten it up a little more,and then add the black paintpen.
the black paintpen covering is usually the halfway point in finishing a character.... After that step,wash upon wash of light and shadow is applied before a final touchup with the black and 3-4 highlight colors (white/yellow/flesh.etc). You can see both the black and white paintpen work on the wing in the foreground.Notice how it is used WITH the acrylic ground,and not just alone... 3-4 feet away and this puppy OPTICALLY BLENDS! I can't wait to share this with the Public in November!
Here is the same scene from above with more shading and lighting giving it more dimension and a bit of cartoonish realism,if that's what it's called....
Here is an Angelic Herald with a Trumpet swooping in from the top left corner. Note JUST the Blackline was established over the base shading...this is because it's going to be worked over a BUNCH of times before he's all dialed in.
Here's an Angel brandishing a sword,helping to cast these fallen angels into their new home...
As you can see,parts of him are more polished than others,as i flit like a butterfly from one area of the canvas to the next...
A row of colums and clouds have been added since the first shot....Note how for the foreground figures and items,i use a black paintpen....BUT! if you look in the distance,i have used the Indigo pen....What this does is brings the black outlined items closer to the viewer ,while the indigo sweeps it into the background....A lil trick we artists use to create the illusion of expanse......
And a little bridge and columns from my dream of long ago... You can also see the start of the trumpet and the attitude of the angel's hands holding onto it.....
Here's one of the fallen ones,transforming into a beast as he is flung downward....If you notice the charcoal sketching,there seems to be some trumpets and a sad praying devil in the background....
Pictured above is a little lower down the left side of the canvas... You can see Heaven above and a hint of Hell below (with trumpets!). The landscape is changing from soft comfortable clouds into the jagged ragged stalagmites and tites of the Subterranean Prison....
Also,we have the second Wind,Blowing a gust that propels and angel upwards...
And here we have arrived in Hell... Infernal groans and cries mixed with the Clarion peal of Heavenly musicians... Tho not as noticeable as a previous descriptive shot,this part of the landscape/architecture utilizes THREE outlines to denote distance.... Black,indigo,and for the farthest areas i will be using Hunters green....You can kind of see it in the top part of the middle.. In person,the impact is astonishing..but since we are on the internets,try squinting and refocusing on that area...You'll get a slight ilusion of that illusion....
Here's the same landscape,but shifted to the right a little...That way you can admire the huge carved friezes under construction... For the hell columns,i am leaving them unfluted...i like the fact they are just dull stone,unpolished marble....
If we scootch down even deeper towards the bottom of the canvas,an angel is revealed in the act of driving a devil into the pit...You can see the raw highlights and shadows under the paintpen..That's what we call a Second Stage,before all the UMPH is added....
Here is the same scene after a little more work.enhancing the flames and starting another cavern near the bottom.as well as the beginnings of yet another little devil,clinging to the rock,and hoping to escape the oncoming impact...Also, note the sleeves of the angel and their sleight development from the previous shot......Also Note that the above picture is closer to the painting's actual colors...
Thus concludes our second installment of the 6x 4 foot eventual masterwork. i hope you enjoyed all the pictures and musings and babblings,and i hope they inspire YOU to go out there and create something Beautiful,something that makes your fellow human THINK,or FEEL...
Until the next blog....
Thanks for Visitin!