 Eight more brush strokes this time. Once they are there they can't be changed. It is important to keep the angle of the wheelbarrow correct, the wheel between his feet and on the ground. He's in the correct place so his right leg will be just off the canvass. His head is pointed in the right direction. He's a little over seven heads tall. So far, all is well.  As previously said, I paint from front to back. The placement of the first brushstroke, the brim of the hat, is critical. The lower right leg and shoe of the male figure will be off the canvass like the female figure. This is a coming together in a blank space to make a beginning. After the brim of the hat, the hair, followed by the upper left arm, the forearm, the hand, and the left handle of the wheelbarrow, in that order, are painted. Next will be the back, the left hip, left thigh, left lower leg, and the left foot, etc.  All my past blogs have all been history. This is now. I am returning to ribbon people. I have used them before. I really like the movement and energy of the forms, their relation to negative space. They are challenging with ink and brush, but I cut myself some slack with over painting. This image is the 49th ink drawing. I could have gone on seeking perfection, but there has to be a limit.  I took a linen canvass, gessoed it until it was relatively smooth, and coated it with Liquitex Titanium White mixed with Liquitex Gloss Medium. It took two coats, brushed first horizontally, then vertically. This is the paper. I mixed Liquitex Ivory Black with Liquitex Gloss M.edium to a brushable consistency with just enough black to create a nice gray when thin and a dark black when thick. This is the ink. I have to admit, if you”re fast, you can erase a brushstroke with a sponge dampened with water. This is not to be abused. The painting could go on forever. This image is the female figure. The male figure is next. Then I will be done with The Beginning.
These paintings are two of my earliest. In exchange for prepping the studio and cleaning up afterward, I attended Irving Marantz's figure drawing class. These early paintings were first drawn on a gessoed canvass, then fixed, and finally glazed and scumbled with multiple coats of Liquitex acrylic paint until the drawing was covered. |
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