mystery
What could be more mysterious than the ways of this woman? Perhaps her nature is unveiled by the line of a curve or the color of skin that has been denied the rays of the sun. She swoons and sways before me, luring me ever deeper into her folds. One more step, one more drop, one more squeeze, the closer I get, the further I am from where we started. She leaves me small gifts along the way. I must resist the urge to linger on each miracle, and drive onward with haste. She opens and closes, allowing the heavens to pour in from above. Then suddenly, as if by surprise, she opens one last time, into another world, her secrets emptied in a waterfall to the narrows below. It will always remain her secret and this makes me smile as I lower myself over her mossy lips.
The finished product is this 24×24″ oil on canvas. In the end I struggled with the colors, and decided on this milky palette. It gives the stylized form of the ledge the soft, sexy, feminine feeling I wanted the image to evoke.
Above are earlier studies of color. In the computer I was able to play with the colors before going to the canvas.
I softened the linework as well before going to canvas. The reference sketch from my sketchbook shows the final composition in a square format.
Another completed natural abstraction!
Sometimes an image develops right away, other times it takes several months to evolve. My trip through Mystery Canyon was four months ago. Granted, it did not take four months of labor to produce this one painting, but sometimes it is the dormant periods of the process which are so necessary. Some of my pieces need to stew. I need to put them out of sight temporarily and then revisit them fresh again. Sometimes, I’m never quite satisfied with the final result, until months after I’ve declared the painting finished. This time allows the image to take on it’s own power, away from all the original inspirations and manipulations, and especially my own criticism. All this struggle is ultimately transparent to the viewer, who will normally only see the final product. This blog is a way for me to show how an image goes from eye-witness account to paint on a canvas. As an artist, I believe it helps me understand my own intentions and goals. It keeps me focused and better in touch with my work. Thanks for reading!
Look for my next series of blogs based on Heaps Canyon, new artwork in progress…
