Week 3 in the Studio

Well this week has been really interesting. The weather really forced me to use my studio time wisely and to paint fast. A few days ago I decided to begin a painting based on a photograph. I had already made a sketch some time ago so this painting was ripe for a subject in oils. The imprimatura was ochre (a raw sienna scumble) and the paint was applied very quickly and thick, of course, in the lighter parts. The transparent purple/blues of the shadows on the foot paths seemed a bit lost. This first layer was done with Liquin. I decided that the second layer would be Liquin Fine Detail Medium.

Fortunately it snowed allowing the painting to dry for a few days and then I could pick up again with the small panel. The application of Liquin Fine Detail mixed into the paint went well. I managed to keep it from getting too runny. It took about 2 hours to finish the painting but mind you, these panels are very small. What I also did was purposely try to infuse additional colors into the darks and pay close attention to the variations of green. (Green, for me, is the MOST challenging color.)

If you look closely there are some moments of cobalt violet (a delicious color put out by Old Holland) and cadmium red. These colors were not in the original reference which was pretty straightforward and not too terribly interesting.

I think generally the painting worked out pretty well. I lost some detail due to the "flowy" quality of the medium but that is something I will have to master. I then decided to do a quick study using only Liquin Fine Detail Medium. This proved to be quite a challenge as the medium settles and follows gravity as its consistency is that of a thin syrup.

The paint was very, very soft but that is okay. It seemed like due to its fluidity it wanted to be caressed, moved, softened and worked nicely against the imprimatura of the burnt sienna applied to the panel. Hmmmm, I wonder if I figured out (sort of) how Vermeer did it.

My friend Jay in the studio next to me loaned me a book of essays called the Mystery of the Rectangle and in that they explore Vermeer's work. Very telling! Also, some video Podcasts that I downloaded from the National Gallery show close-ups of his work and there are NO hard edges! Amazing. So, I continue to look at the Master and wonder at his craft.

I hope the snow does not interfere next week as I will be attempting to complete at least one watercolor and prime a few panels for more explorations of oil painting. Stay tuned! More to come. Also, I will begin to write the most important parts of my paper for my Princeton Fellowship. I am sure it will be a very busy week. But, the quiet time is in the studio and the oils smell good!