Background

Working on the background and got tge farms finished.

8 feet of crazy.

The start of 8 feet of awesome crazy!

Almost done!

Almost done with this one. Just a little more of the base layer, and then a little bit of glazing, just to give it that extra bit of pizzazz.

Coming up next....

I chalked in the basic forms for the next painting, monsieur camera.

Closer...

Almost done

Getting there

This one is about a day away from completion. I'm doing direct painting, so the colors are put on the canvas directly without the intent to glaze over it. This painting technique is fairly modern, Having been developed by the early impressionists. Prior to this, color was developed by adding layer, upon layer of color and glazes in order to achieve rich colors.

The start of a new painting.

The canvas has been toned and this Guy should be finished quite quickly. Hopefully.

Color depth

Glazing over

Beginning the glazes

So many tiny windows.

Tiny brushes

Tiny buildings require tiny brushes!

Next one up!

Here's some progress shots of the next painting in line for this project. More description to follow after some coffee.

Glazing over

I'm coming up to the last little bit on the painting and finishing with a series of glazes. A glaze is transparent pigment mixed with a lot of clear oil medium that acts to give the painting the illusion that it is glowing from within. This is accomplished by creating thin, clear layers which allow light to bounce around in the paint and absorb more o the color. The effect wont translate with a photo, but trust me that it's there.

Itty, bitty, teeny, weeny...

Working with smaller and smaller brushes and making more minute color decisions. Spending literally ALL my time in the studio for the past week, only going home to shower. I'm aiming to have he painting completed for Friday, but may have to deliver on Monday, depending on when my install assistant doesn't work.

Smaller and smaller brushes

Coming down to the wire, and down to my smallest brushes. The camera on my iPod doesn't really capture he details, or the colors, but still....

Dividing and conquering

For the first time, I've broken up the panels. This allows me to work on them in more manageable chunks and to ensure that each segment is a strong painting on it's own.

Slow and steady....

I worked on the top and now beginning the bottom. Nothing much to really say, just plugging along and should have the painting finished this weekend. To use a house building metaphor: the house looks finished on the outside, but the walls, flooring and cabinets aren't finished.

Long week

I haven't updated in a couple of days, but I haven't been unproductive. I've moved down to using small brushes the thickness of my thumb, and in many cases even smaller as I continue to make smaller and smaller color choices. I'm using a old masters secret painting medium called meglip in order the layer colors on top of each other. The benefit of the meglip is that it's transparent so that the under layer of color still comes through. The result is colors that really can't be accurately shown or captured with photos as the light goes through the paint and bounces around he various layers; absorbing more color and giving the painting a rich, deep glow. It's resulting in a painting that looks as bright as my computer monitor! Unfortunately, my camera is unable to capture the subtle colors and blows out the contrast, but hopefully they bring the point across.

The most expensive pigment

I just went over most of the painting with a glaze of ultramarine blue and clear alkyd gel. Before the industrial revolution, ground up crystals of lapis lazuli were mixed with oil to create this exact color. The pigmented lapis lazuli was more rare and expensive than gold, and was the used as sparing as possible, and often not at all unless it was expressly requested and contracted by the patron. It wasnt until ultramarine blue was discovered accidentally as a residue in a lime kiln in 1814, with a process for it's production commercially becoming available 14 years later. Now, ultramarine blue is one of the cheapest pigments on the market, priced the same as black and white by most pigment manufacturers.

First layer Done

99% of the surface now has paint. Next I'm beginning the second layer which will add depth and overall cohesion to the work. I've just finished the first 2lb can of coffee, hopefully the second can will keep me chocked full o'Energy!

Slow and steady

After working on the larger areas and establishing the major color shapes, I've decided to change my plan of attack and work systematically from one end to another. The reason for this change is purely for pleasure rather than ease of painting; working on one color at a time, while easy to do on smaller painting, is rather banal on larger works.
I'm anticipating the completion of the first paint layer by the weekend, and begining the final layers and tweaks Monday. These tweaks are to address, breakup and visually combine the difference compositional elements as well as add subtle complexity when viewed close up. This process is the longest and will show very little progress from day to day; with most of the work visible only as detail shots. However, it is in these small color decisions which will take the work to the next level.

Recent progress

Fast forward with some updates

Here are some shots taken since Thursday night and over the weekend.

Detail

Green!

Adding a bit more color here.

Paint!!!

Working dark to light and back again, I've started to create the color masses. At this point the colors are put down fairly thick and in large swatches. After most of the area is covered, I create smaller shapes that bridge the colors and then repeat this to create form. The process is much like carving a statue out of a block of stone; you carve out the general shapes first, and then you refine these until you have the finished, polished sculpture.

( I've noticed that the little camera on my iPod is making the colors, brightness and everything really saturated. I'll post a photo taken with my Canon later today. 3:37 PM, 2/24/2011)

Blacker than black

I just finished painting all of the black areas with a mixture of Prussian blue and alizarin crimson. This mixture actually creates a color darker than any black pigment since the combination of the two semi-transparent colors absorb more light than any of the opaque black pigments available. Next I'll be working on the painting the secondary dark colors with earth pigments such as umbers and ocres and cobalt.

Done Drawing!

The underpainting is finally completed! Now comes the very long and arduous process of actually painting the image. Working dark to light, the next couple weeks will entail late nights in the studio and approximately 3 pounds of coffee in addition to the several pounds of paint that will actually be applied to the canvas.
Yet despite all this, it's normally at 2 in the morning when I find myself in the most relaxed state of calm with a paintbrush in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

Taking form

I'm about halfway done with the underpainting. The easel has been elevated with 2x4s (the easel is not strong enough to hold it up on its own!) to the approximate height that it will be hung to both help visualize how the viewer will see it and to make working on the bottom easier. However, this means the top of the canvas is now seven and a half feet off the floor, necessitating the need to create a short platform for when I begin painting. Thankfully I painted the top while it was still on the floor.

Drawing

After a few snow days, I'm finally starting to draw the composition. I'm using a mixture of cobalt blue and mars black; being the only black that dries rapidly. This drawing will take several hours, but once I'm finished I'll be able to begin painting immediately.

Ready to Paint!!!!

The canvases are all gridded, aligned and secured together. Next comes the fun of blowing up the image to this massive scale. This technique is the same that the renaissance masters employed, and is older than the actual act of painting, having been used to scale things up for a few millennia. Each grid square is 5 inches, and painted on with cobalt blue and mineral spirits. Cobalt blue is used because of it's transparency; meaning the light lines will disappear into the next layer of paint. Painting it on with the mineral spirits also slows the drying, and so in addition to the color disappearing, it will actually rewet and melt into the next layer, allowing me to get a few hours of sleep before I begin painting.

Loaded on the Easel

Somehow I never thought my easel would be inadequate for a job.... Ready to start gridding!!!!

Source image

The source image has been adjusted to take into account the new borders and a .75" gap between each canvas panel.

Gessoing!

Edges Painted

The canvases are painted and ready to be taped and gessoed. I should begin drawing and underpainting tonight.

Canvas cutting