My Art in the Making

Portrait as Burning Bush

STAGE 1 THE SETUP

The initial mannequin setup with potted plants, cake and a lit backdrop.

STAGE 2 THE BLOCK IN

I begin by blocking in the large masses of the entire composition. Looking at both the mannequin setup and at my mirror reflection, I cover the entire canvas quickly. At this stage in the painting

I use large mixtures of grays, browns and greens, not troubling too much with the precise hue, but more interested in setting up a value structure. I know that the painting will have many layers, so the purpose of this first layer is to cover the whole painting and have some compositional shapes to respond to and move around. I use a limited palette of three or four colors plus white. In this case, it is a warm red, a cool blue and two yellows.

STAGE 3 MAKING ADJUSTMENTS

I start refining, and add elements such as a chair, and eventually the child standing on it. The still life is still loose, but beginning to take shape.

STAGE 4 REFINING THE PALETTE

At this point, I get very serious about my palette. Once the big shapes are blocked in, I need to refine the colors. My paintings are built with layers, so I try to work on the entire painting at once, not in parts. I will spend a substantial period of time each morning when I start work exclusively with my palette. Here’s how it works: I limit my palette as much as possible to three colors plus white: a red, a yellow and a blue. I find Napthol red light, ultramarine blue and yellow ochre, plus white, to be an extremely versatile palette. Many of my paintings are made with these colors exclusively (plus white). I steer clear of all pre-made mixtures. Sometimes I do add another “hot” color, but I usually go as far as I can with the simple red-yellow-blue palette. In Burning Bush,

I knew I was going to use Hansa yellow as well, because I sprinkled some intense yellow throughout the mannequin setup. In the photo of my palette, you can see from the top and left and moving down in a straight line, I start with ultramarine blue, then progress gradually by steps, mixing the blue with the Napthol red light, which in turn mixes in steps with the yellow ochre, which in turn mixes in steps with the ultramarine blue again. Below that are a few blobs that contain all three colors, which make beautiful neutrals and skin tones. Moving across the palette horizontally, I mix gradual steps of value with each of these hues, mixing gradually with increasing amounts of white to make a value scale with each hue across the palette. I move these steps all the way until I get subtle tints at the very end, in which the white paint is barely tinted with a hue or temperature. In this way, two important things happen: my entire palette, and consequently the painting, is linked by color. Every color I use will “speak” to another color in the painting. Secondly, every bit of light, or white object, that I paint, will have a tone or temperature. I will be highly conscious of discerning the subtle color in white objects and in light.