Creating depth

A couple of weeks ago I created this still life.

lillies with Pomegranate and chair

48X39.5          Acrylic on wood

detail 

Before beginning the painting I prepared 'the ground'. ('A ground', is the term for the surface preparation beneath the painting. It allows for a stable ph surface that will accept the later painting stages, and not allow too much paint to soak into the surface).

 Usually I paint three thick coats of Acrylic gesso primer, building up interesting textural brush strokes, but here I chose to paint two and half thinned coats of gesso. The end result of this was the wood surface was waterproof and ready for paint, however the ground was thin enough that the actual grain from the wood could still be seen. This gave the painting a wonderful dimensional quality, from straight on the thicker final painting looks (for lack of a better term) 'normal'.  However from certain light, when viewed at an angle, the grain begins to present itself ghosting through from beneath. This gives the final painting a wonderful depth and extra dimension of interest.  Not sure if my photo here does it justice, it really needs to be seen in person to be truly appreciated.

showing the wood grain 

Seascapes

The rocky break (looking back towards Santa Cruz, CA)
24X36              Acrylic on board

Pushing colors of the coast (Marin coast CA)
24X36                 Acrylic on board

 Window to the Ocean (Pescedaro beach, CA)

18X36           Acrylic on cradled panel 

I dont think I ever blogged these finished paintings. So here they are, now hanging in Chloe fine Art, SF, CA tel  415-7491000  for more info.

A quick Doggie

 Reclining grey
18X36       Acrylic on wood

Sometimes it's nice to break a bit from the usual pattern. Here's a loose portrait of a 'grey' greyhound. I really wanted to get a fresh loose feel for it, and intentionally left areas rough (I mean 'ruff', sorry couldn't resist), and other parts unfinished. I always like paintings with parts that appear unfinished and decided to do that here, with the lamp stand and ambiguous bowl/basket.

I responded to the dark rug, underneath the dog by pushing her gray coat into more of a ghostly white. Strong liberties where also taken with the ground around the rug, but hey if your messing with other elements you may as well go the whole way!

Detail (good for showing the loose brush work and the intentional under painting shining through, seen here in the legs and hindquarters)

Greyhounds and other big skinny dogs are so magnificent when running at full speed, and they're really designed for such things. But when they come to sit or in this case lie, there's a wonderful dis-coordination in their bodies with a tangle of ungainly long limbs.