Roland’s journal entries and photos done while painting this piece which became the inspiration for this series.
Started and Finished: Over a couple of days in the middle of July 2022
16 x 20 inches oil on cotton canvas
The canvas was primed with acrylic gesso tinted with brown latex house paint.
Goals: Create a painting from a charcoal sketch.
Note: In the first pictures the dark shape in the middle of the top of the canvas is the shadow of the top painting tray, or top canvas holder, of the easel.
I started with vine charcoal lines which I enjoyed applying because the charcoal is soft and flows quick and easy on the canvas. I did edits by wiping off charcoal with a cloth rag. I started adding color without applying a fixative over the charcoal, which would have stopped it from mixing with the paint. An oversight but I liked the result. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of this stage. In theory if some charcoal did not have paint applied over it it could come of it touched. I have since passed a damp sponge over the dry painting with no smearing.
The first photo shows cloudy gray areas where I rubbed away the charcoal. Also the first touches of a very light green and blue tints of color. I like very much the way the piece looks with the darker lines holding the piece together plus the piece has a good flow to it.
I like the lighter larger square which is shown in the middle toward the left and I like a lot the vertical cloudy spot which is now sort of bluish. Both are outlined in red.
I like the darker border I added. It took a few passes for the final look of said border. Each time getting darker plus I wanted it to be a warm which it is.
After finishing this piece I thought that this was worthy of a series and I’d like to go forward with the same color tint as a ground and using the charcoal as a starting point and using muted colors as done on this piece with maybe getting more confidence with the colors as I go.
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