"Paintings have a life of their own that derives from the painter's soul." Vincent Van Gogh

Sunday, April 14, 2019

Large Project


Oil and graphite on cardboard / 44 x 53 inches
 

This painting has been in process on and off for a few weeks and, today, I feel like it is finally finished. What inspired me was that my husband ordered a glass floor mat to put under the chair in his office and it came packaged between two huge and wonderful pieces of cardboard! Of course, with my interest in painting on cardboard, I got very excited and  could not pass up the opportunity to experiment on such a large surface. Mulling over what to paint, it seemed appropriate to place one of my large ballerinas front and center. Once the subject was selected, I decided not to prepare the surface at all but to jump right in and paint directly on the cardboard. I started out with a graphite drawing and, when that was finished to my liking, began with oil thinned with mineral spirits. Thicker paint came later. The surface is 44 inches by 53 inches. It is the largest painting I have ever done and I do admit to really loving the way the surface absorbs the paint.

I will show you the stages of how this painting developed. (Click on each photo to see it larger).... 

First the initial drawing in pencil. I had not added the man's face in the lower left at this point.



Second - defining the drawing in thinned oil paint and delineating the shadowed areas.




Starting to add color.




The finished picture and some close ups. 









I hope you enjoyed seeing the process - and the good thing is - I still have a second gigantic piece of cardboard!