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GENESIS OF A COMPLEX PAINTING At least I found it complex! I had long in mind to paint a picture on a grand scale and Bruegel's Icarus suggested a suitable framework. It had infinite distance, middle distance and foreground. It also drew the eye in a circular fashion from right to center and left to distance.  In Charles Dicken's novel 'The Tale of two Cities' a man about to be executed described life as a circular experience in that when we finish life's journey we find we are back where we started. Later T.S Elliot said something similar. This is the general thesis for my picture.

My first step was to buy a large wooden panel 8feet by 4feet gesso undercoat, prime sand and prepare a good painting surface. I did this quickly as I am brutally impatient when struck by what appears to be inspiration. Next I painted the surface a value five neutral color and with chalk divided into three horizontal sections. (sky, middle distance and foreground). Starting from the top my first challenge was to paint a transitional sky. In the one painting I wanted to include morning, noon and night, and yet not have any obvious separation (now you see why I like Icarus and his bold ambition).

Fig 1.  The light for the morning sky below is pink (I used light red) over cerulean with cold grey clouds. From the shadows on the pyramids(Fig 2.) you can see my light source is low on the horizon and slanting from right to left.

Fig 2.  The midday (noon- Fig 1.)) light is vertical the light yellowish, the sky cobalt-cerulean and the clouds a neutral grey in the top-center of the picture. Cobalt - and a fierce prussian blue with silver(off-white) clouds and severe shadows delineate the night sky (Fig 3). The shadows are now cast from left to right. My unifying color for the whole sky was a mixture of light red and alizarin crimson.

Fig 3.  I like to use the middle distance for transition and unity so at this stage I ignored it and went straight to the foreground where I had in mind people interacting and representing the arts and sciences. I wanted painters, writers and musicians and I wanted a situation and era that suited their excitement of discovery.

Fig 4.  Fig 4. I began to get some idea of the structure I wanted ... I chose the late eighteenth century the age of romance and reason. It is also a good midpoint in the evolution of architecture and the sciences - but more of that later. The item that concerned me here was scale. I was also hopeful once I placed the first figure the others would evolve from my imagination. So my first practical question was scale. How big will I make the figures? I knew once I decided on one the others, and everything else, must conform to the same perspective scale. The rule I have learned for this style of painting is always err on the small side (Fig 4). I had in mind to create a foreground with 10-20 people, some in groups and others separated, but as in Noah's arc (the little icon at the top of the finished painting) I decided to pair most subjects and have them communicate with each other. The costumes of the late Baroque era are fantastic, in particular Canaletto's Venetian displays, so my first figure became the girl in the huge red dress. She appeared in my mind as and amalgam of Canaletto feminine exotica. I was attracted by the movement of the upper torso in relation to the swan like shape of the dress overlay. I sketched her roughly and added the arm and the pointing finger. Next I gave her a companion which forced me to a book and a table. The plane of the table needed to be consistent with the horizon so I sketched it to see how it would look. A point to note here - I had the man seated and the woman standing why? Three reasons a) the fashionable cane hooped skirt often required special armless 'fothringale' chairs. b) her animation in the conversation could cause her to stand c) there is perhaps less formality in the outdoor setting.  [ Lesson Index ] [ Previous Lesson ] [ Next Lesson ]