Description and info..
THE EMBRACE.
Cat: No 16.
year painted; 2003.
Oil on stretch canvas, glaze pigment fine brush. (note: but not sable hair).
Size: 20" X 16"; canvas only, but Framed as seen.
Process: The two children were our friend's children; I studied the children from a photograph (taken with one of those very useful recording devices) of both of them sat in a sunlit garden with the child on the right squinting in the sun with her head drooped down. A lot went into recreating the subjects sat on a wicker chair in front of a curtain of green. I love wicker and weave anyway so I thought that chair in my living room would be the perfect seat for them. I mentally superimposed the two sat on it and then I drew the whole lot upon the canvas firstly; before any painting arose. The drawing took about two weeks to get right, what with raising the child's head out of a squint as well. But that was part of the challenge. Painting the thing was another matter.
Now this painting is by no means perfect, in fact me and portraits have never formed a great union, but viewers have to bare in mind that this painting was my first serious people portrait I've ever done. I brought the background up with seven glaze layers to form the folds and all; and got some sort of reality going; then I proceeded to the wicker chair with fine brush to get the weave going as best I could (that wasn't easy, if you study the original) and then I started the little girl on the right: carefully thinking about flesh tone with first stroke, and the shape of eyes, etc etc. Once I was generally happy with that, then I approached the next child, and I wanted them looking out at us. The 'embrace' posture of these two children appealed to me from the very start; so that had to be rendered correctly within the whole composition too. The folds in the clothes aren't hard to accomplish if we consider their direction and the hues of their contrasting colours; and of course the light source direction.
To add; my tools and mediums were no more than I usually use with my other paintings. No palette trowel or knife was applied; except to help colour mix. I stayed away from hog hairs, but used nylon bristles and horse hair brushes. If I had access to the finest sables then I would have used those for the effect that I wanted. And my paint palette consisted of two guest colours away from my norm; and they were Alizarin crimson and flesh tint. I mixed Liquin standard, with refined linseed oil for the glaze medium. Ratio 4:1:1; that's Liquin, oil, pigment, that order. Poppy oil would have been added if I wanted a thicker buttery consistency, but I didn't need it. Good job really cos that's expensive anyway!
Finaly, I framed it. And then stuck it up in my Gallery space to dry, and time weather.
Value: middle to upper.
Price: NFS.
only very serious offers are considered. I'd be a fool if I never considered such options!
commissions welcome.
