Archives for posts with tag: deep perspective
From the ink sketch, I knew that I wanted to keep this image as simple as possible. The horizon line was the most important part of the scene, it needed show how expansive this space can be. After adding more layers of wax to get that eroding feeling of things past, the picture became a heavily textural piece with the overhead viewpoint just askew. When there is plenty of texture, it seems to create a more energetic feeling with a sense of time moving along.
When I first started to paint and feel around for subject matter, rooms were always something that came to mind since they are often in my dreams. I noticed, going over the ‘wall’ sketches, ones that I had done several years ago, were the beginnings of another series called bleedthrough (past). This is a group of paintings about memory, where imaginary objects in large, expansive spaces are in a process of dissolving or decaying with layers of wax being scraped away to get a worn, used effect.
Here are the very first ideas of ‘walls’.
“wall III”
“wall I”
“wall II”
This one above, being the cross over idea of a factory setting with a ship sitting outside the window, led to the sketch below, an actual mill building, in Easthampton, Massachusetts.
The idea of a dress form was important for this story. I wanted a room of labor with the machine to the left, in foreground, attached to the dress form, a robotic, objective element. Desks in a row are production lined up and the white sheet that hangs from the machine is illustrated with a body laying down and small figures around it, giving it life. The sense of escape or release is the ship, waiting patiently outside, a steady way to transcend into another world.
“bleedthroughit” 1999
Sketches of a dream where I saw the darkness enter the light.
The title and the painting itself may not be finished. I’ll be adding a thick layer of high gloss polymer to the surface, to enhance the shine of the piece. I wanted to make the stars glow in vivid white, so I used gesso on top of the oils and wax. The perspective diminished a bit with the addition of black. At one point, the idea turned from darkness entering a room and taking over the light, to the whole room falling away, letting space enter with spots of light. The idea wasn’t really about darkness being evil, but that it is, I imagine, where every thought begins, a place of pure potential. When painting this scene, I have come to realize that the task of making darkness enter light is impossible. Coincidently, it seems light always ends up consuming the darkness. From the words of an anonymous Russian sage,”There are no resounding victories of the dark side.”
Adding just a few colors seemed to work to my eye, but somehow, I want even more colors to sparkle throughout the piece. I think this one needs to be looked up close. Here are some details.
I’ve always thought that the details become pictures themselves, appearing as abstract paintings. Try this site, PURE ABSTRACT and see a new perspective to my artwork.
channeling the abstract 