STUDIO.
 | I edit and rearrange elements from drawings, often photocopying, cutting, and resizing to create a composition for a notan painting. Making my own stretcher frames allows freedom to select sizes and prepare a good working surface by sealing the canvas with rabbit skin glue and layers of gesso. I find three layers of gesso, on 12oz canvas, builds up a nice surface with little absorbancy and gives a slight tooth having lightly sanded the final layer. I tone the canvas using alkyd raw umber, thined with turps, over a detailed drawing to create four to five major value shapes, constantly modifying and correcting the drawing by wiping out and adding paint unitl the notan painting is complete. Dark mixtures of greys from a limited palette are glazed into shadow areas to create depth and space where line becomes arbitrary. |
| Mid tones are applied once I'm satisfied with key and contrast using more warmer mixtures of grey and accentuating planes with directional brush marks. It's at this point the original line accidentally gets lost, merges, and sometimes reappears, and starts to create interesting boundaries between observed reality and what could be called chance abstraction. Most of the work is done here. Continually painting over, re-establishing lines, and accidentally creating interesting edges all help to develop ambiguous lines that create the illusion of depth and space. Finally I work up the lights and highlights, from the same limited mixture of greys, using different temperature grey's, to finalize the illusion of form. |