Friday, March 11, 2011

A Third Try and a Different Approach


I set out to tackle the Agave subject and be less static than the last one, let the color "flow" more, and see what might develop. I worked almost exclusively "wet-on-wet", where the paper is moistened either with water or a thin wash of color, and then stronger, less diluted colors are washed on and allowed to flow together.

Certain areas were painted purposely less defined and softer than my last attempt. I think this painting establishes lights and darks well, and I am pleased that "happy accidents" of color flowing together (the foxing edges can be seen in the close-up) urged me to keep moving and exploring this new (at least for me) technique.

I stuck to the classic "warm colors advance, cool colors recede" axiom, and in that respect, I am pleased with this step. For my next installment in this series, I would like to soften up areas of the painting, pull out edges in certain places, but not let the overall piece be so "in focus".

A new sheet of paper has been taped to the board for the next adventure.