Sunday, May 25, 2014

Dark or light?

When I begin a painting I usually start with a black gessoed canvas or panel and draw my shapes in with chalk. It can take hours to get the drawing right but it is easy to erase with a damp sponge and redraw and adjust the chalk lines until the composition works.



I then start layering and glazing with color leaving the black of the background visible in selected areas kind of like a watercolor artist uses the white of the paper to represent the light areas.  They work from light to dark and I paint  from dark to light, just the opposite.


Evening Hues 20"x40"
"Evening Hues" is painted on a black background and the colors are very saturated and bright.
 

Sunrise in Lavender 30"x40"
On occasion I will start a painting on a white or lighter colored background. Sunrise in Lavender is painted over a white background and you can see the dramatic difference in the final result. The colors end up softer with an ethereal feel.