Thursday, October 05, 2006

David Sandlin in His Studio (work in progress, 10)

Step 10

I'm going to keep the figure of David unworked for a while, as I begin to bring the other areas around him closer to a finished state. I'm glazing with more fully saturated colors, but mainly modulating the surface with a close pattern of translucent and opaque hatchmarks. What I want to do is surround David with approximations of the color values and resolution of forms that I think I want to end up with. I guess I'm trying to "set the stage" he inhabits before developing the central figure, rather than bring David into focus and then work the space around him. Also, I'm painting the elements in the pictorial space from back to front, distant objects first. I think that kind of actual, physical, overlapping of painted forms helps to create a sense of objects situated in a believable space, one in front of the other. Certainly, once I begin to render David's figure, I'll have to make adjustments to the other areas. There will be a lot of give and take among the elements as the painting progresses. Athough the area of the painting in the upper right corner where I've concentrated looks relatively complete, it is by no means so.

3 comments:

Jared said...

This is really great. Thanks for taking the time to do this! Speaking of time, what's your best guess as to how much time you've spent on the painting by this point?

Also, found this while surfing around and thought it might be worth sharing: www.davidsandlin.com/painting17.html

Dennis Harper said...

Jared,
Thanks. Hmmm, time... I don't know. I guess I could have logged it, but I never really think about my time involvement unless I'm running up against a deadline for a show. A cold stab at it would be maybe 25-30 hours so far. I'm a slow worker, on top of having to paint outside my 8-to-5 job at a museum.
Best wishes,
Dennis

gerdbrunzema said...

Hello Dennis,

Thank you for your comment on my site. Where did you learn german? Nice to read it. (Thank you as well for your remarks on my english...). I really admire your patience (and am a little envious...). Painting with the methods of the old masters like Stefan Lochner e.g. is something I have done a few times. The results were okayish, but I was a nervous wreck...
It looked like painting some sculptures, not living things and humans. The colour-effects are wonderful, but didn´t give the painting more life.
Still I love Tempera for its drying tempo, faster than oil and slower than acrylics (which I dislike for several reasons) and the non-opaque behaviour of the colours. I´m using a mix of egg and caseine tempera, even on canvas. It works well.
Your blog is a good learning point if one wants to go your way. I like it very much.
How did you find my blog, by the way?
I´ like to stay in contact, if you like.
Nice hearing from you.

Herzlich Gruß

Gerd