2:38 pm: this is the completed parade 51. i did quite a bit of tweaking, and now it POPS! scroll down to compare with earlier versions. i went back into about 80% of the painting. the shadows on the cement floor are richer and more varied now, allowing the patches of light falling on the floor to sing. the two male figures have had the highlights on their shirts ratcheted up. and the large sculpture on the left has been extensively reworked, allowing it to come closer to the rich patina of the original piece. i love this sculpture! the sculpture in the upper center has more variety in the greys, and a section of wall has been introduced on the upper right, giving the entire composition more geometric interest and integrity. there is always, i feel, a certain mystery in these views from above.
i've frequently expressed my belief that a painting is a series of marks, more or less informed, energetic and masterful on a surface, whether that surface is the rock wall of an aboriginal cave, the wall of a home in ancient pompeii or the side of an apartment building in new york. the "subject" is actually the way the paint is applied, the use of space, light, drawing, etc. that said, it would be foolish to maintain that this is not also a representation of humans and in this case, sculpture and paintings interacting in a space. it's a frozen moment in time; a mystery.
1:11 pm: below are yesterday's version of parade 51 on the LEFT, and today's so far, on the RIGHT
parade 51 35x56" oil on portrait linen
9:45 am: i'm a little late, so i'm just going to post this extraordinary shot from space of the never before seen 3 hurricanes in the pacific. don't you think it looks a lot like a van gogh? more when i have updated pics of my tweaks. mikela visited the studio yesterday afternoon and pointed out some areas of the painting that need to pop more. as usual, i tihnk her observations were spot on, so that's what i'll be working on today.
copy & paste to check out this TEDtalk: http://www.ted.com/talks/phil_hansen_embrace_the_shake
A UNIQUE HURRICANE EVENT: