February 12, 2015

A New Painting: "Cross and Stripes"


Cross and Stripes, egg tempera on calfskin parchment, 6 x 8 in.


Two bent and curving shapes cross in front of horizontal bars, earth red against a cool blue. In my original photo source, the blue stripes were as irregular––bent and wavy––as the red bars in front of them. I wanted to have a contrast of crisp horizontal and curvy cross, but I'm not quite sure it works. I think the idea in my head might have been more interesting than the painted result. 


Cross and Stripes detail


The blue forms should zigzag in and out from the flat plane; you can see the light catching the upper part of the form and the shadowed underside. I think that the striped aspect of the image, the strong dark shadows (though I lightened them considerably while working on this) might flatten the form too much. But I give up, and as my mother likes to say "it is what it is".


5 comments:

  1. Wow! This struck me immediately with its beauty. It is one of those situations when I cannot immediately think what or why, and frankly do not want clarification yet. I just love this piece above all. I shall return to examine more clearly.
    Thank you.

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  2. I am most stricken with the superimposition of the bar and stripe. It draws me in to investigate.
    I wonder if the proportions of the quadrants may be too equal; the strong left diagonal balances the hidden stripe, the bars' intersection is central.
    Nice colors.

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    Replies
    1. Hmmm....I didn't think the quadrants were too much alike, but you might be right, JBS. I'm glad you like the color.

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