8/22/26 figures in doorway II, 38x36” oil on portrait linen
10:03 AM:yesterdays 3 figures in doorway is now simply figures in doorway II. it didn’t work for me when i first encountered it this morning upon first entering my studio.
my first step was to paint over the three figures from yesterdays composition with deep grey and then scrape the entire canvas so that the fresh grey paint partially covered the remaining figure on the left. the sex of this figure is indeterminate, and you can just make out that he/she is standing in what could be a doorway.
i had intended to paint into the greyed out area to the right of this figure, but when i moved the canvas, which i had been working on flat on my painting table, and leaned it against my freshly whited over east painting wall, she was strangely attractive and asked not to be messed with; at least not today.
something i’m realizing as i type this on my laptop is the importance to me of process in the creation of a work of art. embedded in this process is the history of a particular painting as well as the sensibility of the artist, in this case ME.
just imagine, if you can, if we could have access to such documents revealing the process underlying paintings by any of the great masters; goya; matisse; bonnard; gorky, to name but a few.
i was preparing to make a new collage today, and when i found the bristol pad i usually use there was a collage i hadn’t removed. so i removed it from the pad and taped it to a piece of grey board, and here she is!
8/22/26 figures in doorway against east studio wall