8:50 pm update: after i got home, i realized those whites in the center squares that i thought were too bright were necessary, and graying them made the painting too busy. so i went back over in my underwear and, while the color was till fresh, took it our with a rag & turpentine substitute. i'll show you tomorrow. good night.
3:19 pm update: BELOW: parade 44 at the end of my painting day. the whites in the center squares were too bright. look at the 1 pm version, below. so i toned them down, and began working on the rectangular area just to the left of the little girl's elbow. you never know with photos, but the one i just published, taken at about 3 pm, has more accurate colors than the one i posted at 1 pm. the greys under the splatter in particular, which are not quite as warm as the ones you see in the 1 pm shot, and therefore give a more accurate impression of the spatters.
so now, my friends, the full impact on my body of having been awake since 4 am is hitting me. that's aboy=t 12 hours. i think i have to lie down, so i'll clean up and go back to the house.
1 PM update: BELOW parade 44 at 1 pm
parade 44 32x78" at 1 pm today
in the original photo i took at DAM last weekend, this splattered surface was behind the figures. i don't know or care what it is. how it became useful for me today was as a foil to the figures in the foreground , which i felt needed something to counterbalance them in the composition.
the eye now moves over the surface in a much more interesting way, always weighing the presence of the splatters and drips against the light and shadow of the mysterious figures. the mood is celebratory yet meditative, with the now-ness of a documentary and the forever of the frozen iconic moment rubbing against one another. can you tell we renewed our netflix membership & watched the first episode of sense8 last night?
we took our walk even earlier this morning, at exactly 6 am. we walked 1.4 miles, half of it uphill, in the cool 50 degree morning air and with a minimum of mosquitoes. we watched as the line of sunlight moved across the valley floor from west to east, glad that we were still in shade. so now, at 1:23, i'm feeling the edges of having been awake since 4:30, but i'm going to press in and keep going.
chinese song dynasty artists believed that
painting was not just a record of sensory experience but also a reflection of the artist's mind, a revelation of his personality, and an expression of deeply held values. calligrapher li gonglin (1041-1106) fundamentally transformed chinese art of the time by giving form to this ideal.
maxwell k. hearn in how to read chinese paintings 2008