It's the New Year. Yet I'm working on two old pieces started over a year ago. They aren't dead pieces needing resurrection, just simply in good working order set aside to make room for other more pressing work, and they hadn't made it back onto my easel until last night.
I work in cycles. I imagine a lot of artists do. I like keeping two good pieces of each medium, oil and pastel, going at the same time. I paint, going from one piece to another, then if I have a good flow going, I switch to pastels, also working on two drawings simultaneously.
Currently, I am working on the lunar moth and dragonfly oil pieces. But then I wanted to get two drawings underway. These two canvas ballet drawings got put aside last year so that I could concentrate on Nutcracker work. But now they can get right back onto my easel where they belong. In a way, it is a continuum, just like the ballet that these two drawings are based on.
Continuum is a ballet choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. I love the shapes, line and shadows in the interaction of the dancers. This is one of two drawings I am making on canvas primed with a transparent ground so that the raw color of the canvas shows through.
I am experimenting with canvas and different grounds after reading much about Degas' techniques. Next, I want to try a new casein fixative that I've read is supposed to be similar to what Degas used. The interesting thing with these pieces for me is that I inverted the stretched canvas so that the stretchers are on the outside, which I do often with my oil painting, but not for drawing until recently. This allows the work to have a built in frame that I can use as part of the piece, making it appear like a cross between my oil paintings and my usual drawings on paper.
I intend to use a decorative, archival paper with concentric spirals on the frame to hint at the title of the ballet. I'm optimistic that I'll be very happy with the final result. And so I am glad that my working process has finally allowed for these drawing to get back into my own "continuum".
I work in cycles. I imagine a lot of artists do. I like keeping two good pieces of each medium, oil and pastel, going at the same time. I paint, going from one piece to another, then if I have a good flow going, I switch to pastels, also working on two drawings simultaneously.
Currently, I am working on the lunar moth and dragonfly oil pieces. But then I wanted to get two drawings underway. These two canvas ballet drawings got put aside last year so that I could concentrate on Nutcracker work. But now they can get right back onto my easel where they belong. In a way, it is a continuum, just like the ballet that these two drawings are based on.
Continuum is a ballet choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. I love the shapes, line and shadows in the interaction of the dancers. This is one of two drawings I am making on canvas primed with a transparent ground so that the raw color of the canvas shows through.
I am experimenting with canvas and different grounds after reading much about Degas' techniques. Next, I want to try a new casein fixative that I've read is supposed to be similar to what Degas used. The interesting thing with these pieces for me is that I inverted the stretched canvas so that the stretchers are on the outside, which I do often with my oil painting, but not for drawing until recently. This allows the work to have a built in frame that I can use as part of the piece, making it appear like a cross between my oil paintings and my usual drawings on paper.
I intend to use a decorative, archival paper with concentric spirals on the frame to hint at the title of the ballet. I'm optimistic that I'll be very happy with the final result. And so I am glad that my working process has finally allowed for these drawing to get back into my own "continuum".
RSS Feed