Tenebrist Update -- Rope is hard. Cork is easy.

I've spent the last few weeks darkening the background areas and that's helped make the front of the book appear closer. I won't be able to achieve the brightness of the white page that you would see in real life, but there are still some things to do that will help... With each session, I make minor improvements to the drawing as I concentrate on smaller and smaller areas... Firm conclusion: rope is hard, cork is easy.

I made a slight modification to the set up by rehanging the yellow lure on wire instead of fishing line and leader so that I can more easily manipulate its position. It's now slightly higher and to the right so it doesn't obscure the edge of the carpet moving forward out of the shadows.  This lure will definitely be the last thing I paint.

Tenebrist still life -- a report in photos of my progress in the last six weeks

This is my first post since the start of winter.  Here's a reminder of what the set up looks like. I took this photograph last Saturday using a tripod that's slightly shorter than I am and the whites are showing brighter here than they actually are.

Below:
Progress as of February 19th. I spent this day repainting the background and adding the glass on the lamp while I was at it.  I still have a long way to go but seem to move faster each week.

From February 7: Redrawing the lure, building up the paper on the book, and touching up the area underneath the book to correct values and colour.

January 21: my first go at the lure.

January 15: Adding the rope and other shapes...

New Still Life -- Tenebrist Design with a Fishing Theme

Below is a photo of the setup for the next still life... There are 2 requirements for this project:
1. Tenebrist lighting. The Wikipedia definition of tenebrism is this: "from the Italian tenebroso ("murky"), (also called dramatic illumination) is a style of painting using very pronounced chiaroscuro, where there are violent contrasts of light and dark, and darkness becomes a dominating feature of the image."
2. Something with writing on it.

I choose these objects or "characters":

• a cork lantern with tattered blue cord at its base, propped up on wood blocks
• a piece of old driftwood that looks like a petrified pike with its mouth open (but no teeth)
• red, black, and white cloth from the Ukraine
• an Ontario nature book open at a page showing an image and description of two fish -- a perch and a rainbow trout
• an old wooden fishing lure that is red on the top and has two beady eyes
• a bright yellow/red lure that has seen better days.

All of these objects are sitting in an ordinary cardboard box lined with black paper. On top and on the left side are 2 loose foam boards. When you pull them forward or back, the amount of lighing around the center grows or diminishes.

I spent 2 Saturday afternoons toying with this set up. In my first composition, the cork lantern was central and the driftwood came out from the right. This time, I shifted the lantern to the right, and then changed some of the diagonals. But the biggest change was the introduction of the yellow jure as the colour anomaly -- an object that doesn't look like it belongs and so when it appears the eye jumps to it. 

I've placed my yellow lure slightly off centre and hanging down from the top of the box. My camera on its tripod wasn't at my eye level and it tended to focus on the lure as the closest object, making it seem larger. It's actually smaller! In the final setup, I also changed the positioning of the blue cord and the red lure slightly.

Final touches for Still Life #1

I've been putting some finishing touches on this still life, including lightening up areas of the background instead of keeping it one solid colour. The greens in the bottle have been drying at different rates and the camera itself is picking that out as well. When the area dries, the bottle should sit more quietly in the background. The final thing I want to do is to improve the blending in the spout -- my old brushes were making that difficult. That's all that's left before calling it quits and taking the tea pot home.

Red, White and Green Still Life -- nearing completion...

I've spent the last few sessions on small details, softing and hardening edges to bring things to a final finish.
Last night I repainted the bottle, first oiling in the surrounding area so that I could see again the paint that has already sunk in. I still need to lose the edge on the left side or at least make it more symmetrical with the right, even though I've been painting it exactly the way I see it. The other things left on my To Do List include:

• repainting the highight on the tea pot again using white mixed with stand oil to make it both brighter and more opaque than a regular glaze
• smoothing the finish on the spout
• adding a grey glaze to the top of the roll on the red cloth (genuine dust has accumlated now)
• repainting the tea pot's handle, especially the edges that meet the background 

Wayne's Portrait -- Finished and Drying

Well, it took long enough but I finally wrapped up this picture on this Thanksgiving weekend.  I first added glazes of white and blue to the left backround to give the impression of window panes. Then I concentrated on sharpening some edges and softening others on the shirt. The larger areas I worked in are still very fresh and glossy, which the camera picks up no matter angle or setting I use. Eventually, the linseed oil/mineral spirits mixture will evaporate and the pigment will sink back into a dull matte, like the rest of the background and the chest. As it dries over the next six months, everything should even out -- and then come alive when I varnish. Now on to the next one.

Fresh background for the still life

I spent last night resaturating the background with a solid, fresh layer of ivory black/pale yellow ochre (which makes the green of the wall) and linseed oil, and blending it into the edges of the bottle. I also took the opportunity to repaint the bottle with a higher chroma green (Sap Green) and to lose some of its edges into the wet background. I'm not so concerned now with getting a symmetrical shape and the outline of the real bottle does get lost in places. But I still have to see how things look after the paint dries. In the meantime, I'll move on to other areas...

Update on the Battle of Cascina (charcoal and chalk)

I haven't spent much time on this drawing since May but thought I'd post a new view of it as an incentive to continue. The project began a year ago August (click here to view earlier blog entry below) as an exercise to see how well charcoal and white chalk work together on toned paper. I began by concentrating on particular areas, but now realize it's best to take a systematic approach and deal with all dark areas first before venturing into the lights (it's so easy to overdo the white highlights). So I'll be shifting over to the second figure on my next pass...

Wayne's Portrait (continued...)

Since posting my last update on this painting (when I described cropping the painting),  I've been concentrating on finishing the shirt and shorts, with the aim of making the folds and edges softer. I also repainted the left arm/hand (the one in shadow) and face, but still need to reshape the eye slightly. After that, repainting the other arm is at the top of my list of things to do. Once that's done, I'll finish the background once and for all: the drapes, the window panes, and the view beyond. Much of the background drapery has now sunk into the canvas, which is OK. The real challenge will be depicting the window panes with their own reflections and streaks on top of the exterior scene.

Update on the Red, White and Green Still Life

It's been a long while since I've posted a photo of this still life in progress. Fortunately, the list of things to do before finishing this painting of is growing shorter.

I painted the wine bottle in yesterday, using only high chroma greens (vermillion, sap green, and a bit of pale yellow ochre -- no white). Trouble is, the real green background (a mix of ivory black and pale yellow ochre) has long since sunk into the panel so I haven't really been able to blend the bottle back in. In the next session, I'll repaint the background with the green and linseed oil and blend the edges of the bottle into it. I also need to make the outline of the bottle more symmetrical, even though the real bottle is flawed (I keep insisting it is, anyway). One trick suggested: on the computer, trace the outline of one side, then flip it over and lay it over the other side. That should tell me how to correct the other side.

The red cloth just needs a few minor touches. The far right edge needs to be darker and greyer to suggest that it's receding in the distance. This should help make the front of the cloth jump out even more. Other final touches: repainting the leaves and toning down the highlights, and adding a few more scratches/eteches into the edge of the board.