As I continue to pursue the underlying Mathematics in my painting I also am exploring making changes to my techniques. Not only will I consider the mathematical construction of my composition but also the juxtaposition of the abstract with the concrete. This blog post will explain my use of a watercolor-like, abstract underpainting combined with the more concrete use of shapes with palette knife.
Two years ago I observed the watercolor/pastel technique of Albert Handell and was intrigued. I finally tried this technique with oils alone, using Cobra's water-mixable oils. At first I applied the paint thinly mixed with sufficient water. Then I began to paint primarily using a palette knife but also utilizing a brush for different effects, with thicker paint on top of the (dried) thin layer.
These are my first two paintings based on this technique: both paintings were done with the assumption of the coloring of sunset during stormy skies.
Sandias' Stages:
The Sandias is based on the watercolor/pastel demo by Handell two years ago. I used Cobra water-mixable oils, thinning considerably with water at the beginning.
I began by washing the sky with various colors with a very wet brush mixed with oils. Then I began to block in color areas of the cliffs varying from warm red browns (burnt sienna, transparent red oxide and vandyke brown) on the left to more yellows on the right (including Indian Yellow).
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| Sandias, Initial Thin Underpainting with water-based Oils |
i continued with more variations of pink and purple in the skies. I enlarged the black shadow patterns and began to sketch dark cracks in the cliffs.
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| Sandias, Continued Underpainting plus Initial thicker paint layer |
Note the adjustments in the shadow shapes to make them more interesting and varied, still with thin mixtures. Note also the addition of green in the lower right to suggest the trees that are seen in the mountains. As I transitioned from the abstract underpainting, I began to use paint with no water, using large brushes and palette knives.
At some point I felt the clouds were too 'brown' and added opaque whites in that area. I also varied the shades of yellows and reds in the cliffs.
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| Sandias, Final, 10x16, oil |
Note the happy accident in the Sandias' painting: the suggestion of an additional mountain ridge in the upper right, which I decided to keep.
Sangres:
After I completed the Sandias I then applied the technique to this Sangres' painting. I did not photograph stages; I was concentrating too much on the painting to pause for photographs.
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Sangres, 10x16, oil
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The Sangres' painting is roughly based on photographs I have taken of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains, as seen from my neighborhood, and also based on memory; these are mountains I see every day in all seasons and all kinds of weather. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains do not have the same hard, angular edges seen in the Sandias, so I invented somewhat. I did try to incorporate the 'grin' of Mount Baldy. The right hand hill ended up higher than in reality but I left it alone. In any case the perspective of the mountain ridge changes dramatically as one views the mountains from different angles.
Note the happy accidents in the sky with the thin underpainting. I like the end result with the juxtaposition of the thin and the thick.
After completing these two medium sized paintings I constructed a few small paintings using the same technique:
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| Golden Sangres Aspens Horizontal, 6x12 |
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| Cliff Drama, 5x7 |
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Sandias Small, 6x8
For a charity function in my community I used this technique to make a few very small paintings with floating frames for 3x3 panels (note that the panels need centering with adhesive yet)::
And finally, another, even more abstract painting for the auction:
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| Golden Sangres Aspens Small, 8x10. |
