2021 creek oil 1, 26x78” at 1:30 PM
1:43 PM: as i indicated in my 10:54 am post, i worked on both 2021 creek oils today. lets start with 2021 creek oil 1. my work was focused on the 2 tree trunks on the far right. they were too fuzzy. now they have more definition and a clearer space between them allowing the viewer to get that they are 2 separate trees, and a branch jutting out on the upper left. this allows the rest of the painting, which i feel very good about, to breathe. the airy, creek inspired patterning and subtle pinks can flutter and sing, with the two tree trunks acting as supports.the other tweak was to the v-shaped area of dark blue in the upper center. i added some white marks, somewhat reducing the intensity of that blue, which had been bugging me.
DETAIL of Frans Hals painting of Dorothea Berck
that fugitive quality termed painterly reigns, always. it can be achieved with other mediums, but i think oil is king in this respect. acrylics dry too quickly to blend colors or be able to go back in a few hours or even days later and scrape about. the flemish created oils in the 15th century, in part to go beyond the strict technical limitations of egg tempera, which had been the main painting medium all the way back to ancient times. they reveled in their newfound freedom, which was taken to a whole new level by 17th cetury dutch artists, who created some of the finest masterpieces of painting in oil, including of course, rembrandt and the amazing franz hals, who could swiftly paint a gloved hand with a few flicks of his brush.
2021 creek oil 2 26x66” as it looked after painting over it with a wash of brilliant yellow mixed with titanium buff.
ABOVE is 2021 creek oil 2 after scraping and painting over it, then scraping some more. the shapes on the left and right were created by moving my wide scraping tool in a sweeping, gestural way, intentionally creating biomorphic shapes that could not be planned in advance. tomorrow i’ll work into it and begin creating the layering characteristic of my recent paintings in oil, allowing portions of the under-painting to appear here and there.
10:54 AM: the moment of entering the studio is always my best time to evaluatewhat i did the previous day. although i didn’t work on 2021 creek oil 1 yesterday, i saw an area on the right that needed work, so i’ll start out with that and then move on to the new 2021 creek oil 2. BELOW you see them both on my east wall.
by the way, in case you were wondering about the watch mikela got me for new years, it’s been in the usps system since it was shipped, december 28! will it ever get here? i’ll post a pic if & when it does.