February 23, 2012

A New Painting: "Black and White", with Some Thoughts on Touch

 Black and White, egg tempera on calfskin parchment, 6 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches.



While I was plying my brushes during the painting of this work––and, by the way, I use round synthetic bristle brushes, Rydal Gold by Stratford & York––I was considering how much variation I wanted to show in the "touch", the visible movement of paint. For me there's always a balancing act between achieving a clear sense of form and having the paint look lively and fresh. 



Irrigation Equipment (detail), 2002, egg tempera on gessoed panel.

When I began using egg tempera in 1995, paint handling seemed more straightforward: I used the traditional method of cross hatching to build the form with many layers of translucent, pencil-like strokes. A dozen years later I decided to leave this method behind, as I described in this blog post.


                                          
Untitled, ca. 2007, egg tempera on gessoed panel, 7 3/4 x 5 3/4 inches.


Around the same time I was doing a series of non-objective paintings, brushing on many layers of color for a shifting, atmospheric effect. I was playing with paint and having a very good time. Doing these works helped me to figure out the way forward with my representational paintings. 




In Black and White, the whitish part of the painting has smoother handling, while the black has a more visible varied stroke. Some of this is to express a difference in the surfaces depicted; some is a result of the pigments and how they demand to be used. The black pigment, Mars Black, did not want to sit still, calmly and opaquely;  I went along with a painterly stroke, which would provide a textural contrast to the quieter white, and add some physicality to the forward planes. These strokes don't come easily; I often repaint for a more graceful mark.  Seeing the orange abstraction again and thinking about its surface has made me realize that there are other ways I can enrich my paint handling, perhaps with more layering of color. I'm grateful for the learning process that comes with writing this blog. 

13 comments:

  1. while it is hard to see brushstrokes on a computer monitor, you have successfully created a sense of light and dimension.the surface in black and white seems to shimmer as if in sunlight.

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    1. thanks, dbk. I believe that most of the feeling of light comes from the color and value structure of the image, but the brushstroke does add to it.

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  2. I like this painting a lot .Do you do glazes? I did tempera a long time ago and remember scumblling to get certain effects and also scraping...I didn't work in it long enuf to achieve what I wanted and moved to oil because I Could get overlays of color more easily..but there's a snap to tempra you don't get elsewhere.

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    1. Yes, I certainly use glazes and scumbles. Tempera dries immediately so makes layering very easy, much easier than oils I think, and the paint is translucent so lends itself to layering.

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  3. I wish I could see some of your work in person. I like to read about what you think in regards to your work. It makes me look at things differently.

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    1. Lisa, I'm glad that my text is helpful. It would be great if all my readers could see the work in person; it's certainly a different experience than seeing it on the screen.

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  4. the transparent shimmer is very nice. wish i too could see this in person..

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    1. thanks, alicia. Maybe some day I'll have a show...

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  5. i love how this painting opens up at the top and fools you for a moment into thinking 'sky' before it assembles into itself.

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    1. rappel, your comment reminds me that my original composition for this painting showed some sky at the right, alongside the white form. I decided that leaving it out would make the image stronger. I'm glad that residual feeling lingers; thanks.

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  6. This reminds me of Calatrava's Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) Building where the wings open and close...a marvel of light and form and motion.

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    1. Wow, Julie, that is quite a comparison. I looked up images online and it's quite an amazing structure; I think of my image as rather earthbound, but thanks so much.

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  7. Not so earthbound to me as I see your "horizon."

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