"Father Spring"
18 x 24"
Pyrography and acrylic/cel-vinyl tinting on wood
Hello Fellow Artists,Art Lovers and Cerebral Voyagers!
So sorry for the delay/space between postings..
i will attempt to contribute more as the November exhibition draws closer...
Sometimes a slow-patch on one painting
opens a path to another work. Such is the story of the above piece...
Preparing for Tiki Oasis a few weeks ago,a lot of effort and energy was poured into drawings,small paintings,embellished mugs ,etc for the good peoples at the event.
Needless to say,oft-times when an artist is "on a jag" with a creation,there is a certain
mindset,feel,vibe attached.. For instance ,when I'm working on the Rebel Angels,this is what i play over and over again (along with other works by Bach) Loved this piece even before the lyrics were discovered... Here are the lyrics..
Original text :
Erbarme dich, mein Gott,
Um meiner Zähren Willen !
Shaue hier, Herz und Auge
Weint vor dir bitterlich.
Erbarme dich, mein Gott !
Translation:
Have mercy, my God,
For the sake of my tears !
See here, heart an eye
Weep bitterly before you.
Have mercy, my God !
Play this and you'll see what i'm tawkin 'bout...
Well, after Oasis,it was time to hunker down and get serious about the November show....
Desiring some works that would truly move and Transform the visitors
it was decided to create a few BIG,GRAND,Powerful works...Ones that would never sell, but NEEDED to be done,with smaller works of varying subjects,fluttering about the larger pieces.
Kind of quotes and punctuations to the bigger work...Plus, the smaller works could not only help cement the bigger works,but would also provide more affordable works to the folks who always been behind the work and my journey...
Anyways...All this mullin on subjects and thinking of a dozen paintings at once
the Rebel Angels Vibe just wasn't there at that moment,so,after half-transferring
another grand piece for the show, "Saint Surveillance",
i decided to work on a woodburn
a pyrographical display
as no other earlier woodburn had been!
Well,first off,it was BIGGER than any other earlier woodburn
18 x 24"
which is pretty big,even for a drawing
,let alone a fire-etched masterwork!
Here is the original sketch from one of last year's sketchbooks....
a passing fancy,a spark of an idea,a gem
awaiting some polishing...
After gathering up a number of these sketches
this one SANG and it was decided to attempt this piece
a chance to create a landscape/Semi-Pseudo Mythological/Apothesis-istic filled work...
plus the desire to take pyrography and give it more DEPTH...a vaster expanse
that was a lil goal i had hoped for
BUT actually was a little intimidated by...which is a good humbling state
where nothing is taken for granted...
After sketching it in pencil onto the wood
improving and elaborating on the original
this is the end result...
First off, i wanted to give the face a Solemn,Old,just Awakened character
a little more exaggeration and a viney crown,and hair blooming with fresh flowers...
Next up were the hands,expressive end points,that decorate the personality.
And the sleeves,how to share the illusion of landscape and still follow the reasonable folds and creases of a garment?
SIDE NOTE: the above challenge,penchant for combining the human form with architectural and geographical elements has always been a fascination and part of this artistical vocabulary..Here is a below example when i wqs combining the human form with architecture. The below painting is an examination of these elements in context with the theme of the Devil's Courtyard...
IF YOU ARE UNDER 18,PLEASE SCROLL PAST THE BELOW PICTURE and continue...
"the Devil's Courtyard"
acrylic and paintpen
24 x 36" (i think)
More of that later...I may actually create a folder of Erotic work
but we'll see.. Erotic love is a very strange subject to approach and contemplate
despite the fact it is such a large part of all of our lives...
Anywaaaays.....
Here is the other hand,holding onto a staff
both for support
as well as a display of title.
like a bishop's Crozier..
Again the challenge of leaving the FAR DISTANT background alone and undecided
was difficult when in a horror vacuii mood,but the fascination of working the folds and creases into landscapes was alluring enough to distract me from that task for the moment...
Here is a close-up of a small valley and waterfall below...
After this part,the topological and vegetation problems were solved, in large part to the inspiration of certain Balinese paintings ...
Here is a Drawing that displays a more graphic expression of different plants and their decorative/motif-driven forms.
"the Windy Jungle"
sharpie and Copic marker on Aquarelle watercolor paper
Now onto the initial tinting stage!
i use a burnt umber in washes to build up some of the depth and expression/mood of the piece...attempting to give form to the graphic trees and bushes...This was also a Grand opportunity to begin to develop the face...giving it the perfect modelling and,by adding shadows that create recesses,layering,heaviness,and movement,the simple burnt lines
of the pyrography is allied with paint and becomes something even MORE!
Next up is the arm,hand,and sleeve area....with waterfall,of course!
the cave-like inner sleeve adds to the mystery,and the shading and washes contribute to
the transformation from mere 2-dimensional image ,into a PLACE...
Here is the other hand and part of the staff,and the challenge of letting the sleeve drape down and become a Forest floor...
Below is an example of some fof the tinting concerning the water...
i wanted there to be a certain reflective/transparent quality ,
both to the actual waterfall and the cliff behind it,
but also the small pond/river it had formed below...
And a little closer view,so y'alls can see some of the blending and layering of washes to give it that LIFE! to make it an actual PLACE!
And Here's a nice close-up of the top of the staff and the profile of father Spring...
And here is the WHOLE piece Finished with it's sepia tinting phase
and ready for the final coloration...
And now here it is....
the LAST STAGE
the most precarious...
a good colorway can make a painting merely MEH
or it can transform itself and the viewer
catapult them into a mood,an experience...
a PLACE....a WORLD!
As you will discover as we examine this close
you will see how the background
the vast expanse is BRUSH only
no pyrography
no hard outline
it has broken free and laid out a world for this drowsy giant to traverse across
there are hints of the blue Violet from the sky
scattered onto the landscape and the face and lips...
in person it really ties the figure into the whole environment...
i let the wood retain it's natural color for the face and hands...
Here is the upturned hand and sleeve and waterfall,the variety of colors wrapped in the violet and the blues smattered here and there,helps with the cool,refreshing,dew-laden
dawn i wanted to communicate...
And here is the other hand with the staff
AND the background i fretted and fawned over.
As you can see,it was a good call to ixnay the oodburnway on the background.
it sets it back....WAAAAY BACKand establishes the desired expanse thattransforms
Father Spring into a much larger,encompassing figure...
Pictured below is the sleeve of the Staff-hand.I tried to have the beard flow outward like viscous water...the same with the tumult flowing down and carpeting the landscape of the back....The lower left area,where the foreground meets the vast expanse,evokes memories
of being on the edge of the grand canyon at dawn.the quiet,the cool air,the majesty...
As we progress down the sleeve
towards the bottom of the work,you'll note the extreme foreground to appear closer to you,the viewer...
This lil trick is created by darkening that area with tints (i used the blue violet of the sky to tie it in) You can all thank Dore,Ray Harryhausen,and countless other masters for that tip!
Here's a detail shot of the entire waterfall and a little bit of the background/vast expanse on the right edge of the work.you can how i achieved some of the transparency by establishing a broken continuation of the cliffs behind the cascading water.. a little added shading and the illusion works well enough for this piece....
Again,the extreme foreground is darkened ,leading the eye to the crystal clear pool at the bottom of the waterfall....
And here,in our final close-up,is the staff of Father Spring and his final profile
slowly awakening and readying himself for his Seasonal Journey...
and here is the final FINISHED work
just in case you forgot what it looked like!
I'll be releasing more details and whatnot about the UPCOMING NOVEMBER exhibition
SOON!
Thanks for the visit!
write if you have any questions about the work,and stuff...
