The Evolving Stages of a Painting

  Here are the stages of a painting as it evolved in my studio ( yes, that unfortunate pile to right is my palette and the vertical crush of brushes are my tools). I start with a 36×36 inch sheet of aluminum then, I begin with a design. My design depends upon two  vertically stacked and  reversed  triangles which are overlaid with a serpentine shape.  The top green lines show a foreshortened or flattened triangle which directs your attention back to the top of the work.  Below, the white lines converge in a sharper triangle aimed toward the bottom of the image area. 
This provides two areas of complementary or opposing directions.  Imagine if you were to stand at a pond’s edge your visual impulse would be to scan back across the pond ( the top triangle) and then to scan down toward your feet ( the bottom triangle).  I use the fragmented serpentine shape to keep you floating on the surface and direct your attention again back to the rear(top) of the image.

My general intention includes an image which reveals itself in layers, from reflections through translucence.  My palette will balance opaque pinks, blues and blue violets over translucent warmer colors.  At my start, blue to yellow-green will act as a unifying and harmonizing color field. I first apply the paint with a 4 inch soft synthetic bristle brush.  In my palette I use carmine lake (Charvin), gamboge yellow(Old Holland), Ultramarine blue ( Old Holland), phthalo  cyan (Charvin), Imperial green(Charvin) and titanium white.  I smoothly apply and blend my first application of paint  over the entire surface(example 2).

  All the examples which you see here were applied in one day; this is oil painting wet on wet. The effect will be to create a single surface image which appears to be layered.  In the next stage (example 3, again in the context of the studio) I have  added more intense color in selected areas and started removing paint in spots with loose gestures with my soft 4 inch  semi-cleaned brush and a two inch soft synthetic sable ( negligibly loaded with a touch of warm color composed of intense violet (Charvin) and gamboge yellow mixed). I have this bare note of color on the brushes  when deleting paint so that I can simultaneously deposit a  light film of color.  In example 4 I show you a close-up of  a detail area in the painting. I want to show you how I am horizontally moving my brush. I gently drag  the lightly loaded  brush with opaque pink-white while intermittently touching the surface to suggest a vibrating motion and reveal alternating slivers of light and dark areas.  I will play with this process for a couple of hours as I gingerly create the effect of a surface of reflection overlaying an area which suggests both reflected trees and the materials (rocks and other matter ) which lie below the surface. They co-habit the same visual plane. I am cleaning my brushes in  Soy Solv( a non toxic,non carcinogenic, soybean degreaser) and painting with a medium of pure linseed oil( no turp, no varnish).  I am also using a variety of brushes. Each brush will hold a respective color. I am using up to eight of the same two inch brushes but, loaded with different colors. This prevents chalky, dull, overmixed, overly light absorbent color.  In examples 5 and 6 you see how the overlay slowly begins to define areas and builds a sense of a more continuous surface.  I am varying the opaque surface reflection colors with white mixed with carmine lake or cyan or ultramarine blue. Now, I am more able to exploit the tension between the bright overlaying opaques vs. the deeper translucents below. I still continue to delete paint with a soft brush after which I cross-stroke the deleted areas to blend with surface of the painting.  During the painting process I continually step back from the painting to be able to better judge its unified effect and to gain some transcendence before I make my next decision.  I am following the paint.  In example 7 I have removed the surround tape and tosee how the painting is evolving.