In Progress: Untitled (Mantle)

"Untitled (Mantle)"

16"H by 20"W, on canvas. 

(click for enlargement)

 

 

A quick start on a painting is easy for me and often makes me think I should slow down. The corner of my studio is filled with false starts and paintings that have failed to hold my interest for more than a few hours of painting. With this piece, I thumbnailed only twice before drawing directly on the canvas. A wooden stick helped me lay my perspective lines, and I started painting the base layers of color.

At this point I feel it necessary to address that my work is diverging into a lot of different areas. Perhaps it's a bad habit left over from art school, but I always want more than one body of work to whittle away at. Of course, I'm not sure it's really a bad habit- painting as much as I can on as many bodies of work means that I'll have a diverse portfolio for different audiences to see. On the other hand, it would be so nice to be able to present twenty shoe paintings to a gallery in San Francisco this year or next, instead of in 2015.

In Progress: Untitled (shoes)

"Untitled (shoes)"

30"H by 48"W, on canvas. 

(click for enlargement)

The way the background looks at this moment is due to it being masked off by some paper that I'm using to make sure that the next step is the right one. I felt that the background needed a flat element but did not want to eliminate the blue power cord shrinking into the distance. Playing  with the idea of surface in a painting is an enjoyable exchange between the painter and the viewer for me- my goal is to amuse and entertain the viewer by playing on the anticipation of an artificially deep space and inserting a surprising element of flat pattern.

I have my doubts about this element of course; it could cause the painting to look too much like a decorator piece and take away from the pile of shoes in the foreground. I think if either of these things happens the solution is pretty clear- another coat of paint on the background.

In Progress: Untitled 3 (shoes)

"Untitled 3 (shoes)"

48"H by 48"W, on panel. 

(click for enlargement)

I'm very happy with about 80% of this painting. The way I generated this image was by collaging photographs together, and I adored it at first. But the painting is now what I would describe as an endurance trial. Portions of it are complete, and I love how it looks as a small collage.

Whatever my next step may be, I'd like to preserve the diagonal movement. If it's possible to do so by obscuring some of the shoes and the edges to prevent an overload of detail and dominant areas of the painting.