Thursday, July 30, 2009

Preliminary Drawing for Wayne M. Portrait

(Posted from the cottage)

I made a quick drawing based on the photograph of Wayne at the cottage and transferred it to the canvas by colouring the back of the drawing with charcoal and then tracing over the drawing. I didn't have enough vine charcoal with me so I used compressed charcoal, which is very dark. More of it transferred onto the canvas than I wanted. I could wipe it off or wash it over, so I ended up applying a thin layer of Titanium White over the charcoal, leaving only the outline. Two days later, that thin layer hasn't yet dried, which makes me wonder if there's something in the charcoal that is causing the delay... (and yet Ivory Black, which I use as my black paint, is basically charcoal). Guess I'm impatient. I've sketched in some of the lines for the windows, wall and floor shadows, but will need to fix a vanishing point off to the right beyond the canvas to get the perspective lines accurate. The canvas turned out to be smaller than the 30" by 24" size it was supposed to be so my "centre" point changed slightly.

Below is the initial drawing with the figure at 60 cm tall.



Here is the drawing transferred onto canvas:



Now while waiting for the paint to dry, and the rain to stop, I'm getting back to some other unfinishedp projects...

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Harmonic Proportions and Ancient Design Systems

Old masters made use of classical geometry to find the best way to arrange figures and objects within a given space. The composition scheme based on harmonic proportions is the most common one (and it derives from Pythagorus's discovery of harmonic proportions -- musical root harmonies -- that explain order and beauty in sound).

I created two samples below, the first on what's called the "armature of the rectangle" and the second on the "root 2 rectangle system" (a rectangle whose dimensions are based on the ratio of the square root of the number 2)

Example 1: Composition Based on the Rectangle's Armature.
I first created a rectangle based on the proportion of my chosen canvas ("30 x 24"). Then I sketched a series of diagonals from the corners and the middle of the sides. Where they intersect, the natural harmonies are created. I've highlighted these with circles. They represent where the eye of the viewer naturally moves to. The goal is to frame subjects or objects at certain harmonic divisions, to rest or place parts of a figure along a diagonal, or to run a harmonic division through key places in the design (typically an eye of a figure).

How did I do? Pretty well, considering I didn't think of the compositon of the surroundings when taking the reference photo. The dots on the photo below represent the natural "eyes" of my rectangle, situated in the natural centre (half point), thirds, and quarters. On my computer, I arranged the photo under the rectangle's armatures diagonals so that the bottom of the book's spine would meet the absolute centre. The remaining eyes are in unusual places but at least I can see some parts of the figure lining up with the diagonals, and Wayne is centered. (If I had asked Wayne to lower and close the book slightly, it would have been perfectly placed)... The grey strip on the far left represents how far I will have to extend the window in the painting to keep Wayne in the centre.



Example 2: Composition Based on the Root 2 Rectangle.

Here, I've taken a Root 2 Rectangle (height 1.41 x width) and imposed it on the image again. This rectangle is sitting over the larger grey rectangle which represnts my 30z24 canvas. The crossing of the main diagonals with the secondary diagonals creates four 90 degree angles and divides the rectangle into thirds. These crossings become 4 "eyes" (the equivalent of the green eyes in the previous picture).



Again, after centering the figure, I see it's not a perfect fit. BUT now I know how big to make the figure and where to position it on the canvas... With this Root 2 rectangle, my figure would be smaller (59.62 cm tall) than with the Rectangle Armature design (66.98 cm tall) -- my preference is the first.

New Project: Portrait of Wayne M.

Here's a new project I initiated July 11th at the cottage. Wayne kindly posed for me in our living room, looking out over the deck towards the lake. The winning photo, chosen from among fifty or so, is shown below. We decided to go for the full figure and include more space around the figure for light and depth.



I bought a 30" x 24" pre-stretched canvas today, to which I'll add another layer of gesso and sand it down for a smoother surface. Curry's art store did not have linen in the size I wanted and I don't have time to acquire the best linen from the school -- I want to get started on this next week. I considered canvas board and masonite as the surface, but decided against it--better wait for a smaller project to experiment with a new surface.

The next challenge is deciding on the actual size and relative position of the figure on the canvas. Experimental images to follow in the next posting.

The Gaul is nearing the end...

Meanwhile, back at the academy...I've cancelled the summer break that I intended to take in order to get this painting done and move onto my first Red/White/Green still life...

You know it's time to finish when the statue has accumulated so much dust that the values you first painted now need to change. This happened to the top of the cloth upon which the status is resting; it's now so much lighter because of a thickened layer of dust (which wasn't there at the start). I had to lighten up my own copy to match this week while finishing the base. (I raised the painting on my easel so I could reach the bottom easier). There's still some touch up work to do there...



Here's the close up below. Notice the "parallax" effect of my camera; the side of the canvas seems to bend but it's straight of course.



I can now count on one hand the things I need to do to finish up:
-- second paint the stand and all of the background, including the cast shadows in one go.
-- paint the underside of the beard (the part in shadow)
-- paint the eye socket: needs burnt sienna tint
-- second paint the light area of the statue's plate (the bit between the stand and the fur coat collar)
And that's nearly it, until told otherwise, and I'm sure I will be.

Finished Painting of Patroclus

I've taken this painting as far as I want to as of July 11 and have taken it off the easel for good. In six months, after all of the layers dry thoroughly, I'll varnish it to bring back the fresh look of new paint. In the meantime, I'll hunt for an appropriate frame and look into making a limited set of digital reproductions (giclees) for sale.