The underdrawing stage for this piece is illustrated and described on my companion website atelier artisanal. It consists of fifty two panels rendered in silverpoint over a terre verte toned acrylic ground, then highlighted with titanium white. Then the next stage consisted of overlaying layers of titanium white – either sprayed or thrown – in alternating sessions until I was satisfied with the result.

It was fun doing that second phase – yet also challenging: it’s my first experience with throwing paint since my college days in the 1970’s. So  I had an internal image, but didn’t know exactly how to get there: it was a case of trial and error. My guiding principle was “circulation de la lumière” (the circulation of light). Naturally, that circulation had to take into account the already developed image of the underdrawing. That underdrawing then was the control part, but the throwing itself was not. It involved a chaos which I couldn’t really control, but perhaps, at best, guide. The final size is almost 3 feet wide and 5 1/2 feet tall. Basically, life size.

The final version displayed here then is (of course) a photograph of the original. As such it’s a kind of compromise, not only because of my photography skills, but possibly anyone’s. That’s because the silverpoint layer reflects and resonates depending on the lighting conditions (as well as the position of the viewer in the room), while the overpainted layer simply reflects light. With ambient lighting conditions more of the underdrawing comes through softly, while with strong overhead lighting conditions the overpainted splashes (I think) will become emphasized. My intention is/was to achieve an alternating balance between the two, so that the viewer can also receive alternating impressions. For all these reasons it’s important to cut this the image you see here some slack and go for an in-person viewing. With luck I hope to exhibit it somewhere, sometime in the relatively near future. So stay tuned.