A matter of values
This one is starting to be fun. I’ve been building values, pulling things forward and pushing other things back. I won’t be ready for detail for a while yet. It amazes me how satisfying color can be. I think I breathe deeper when I’m pushing a cerulean against a deep violet or dropping red into a pool of warm yellow. Really, I think that is where home is for me. It is completely absorbing - calming. Everybody needs something like that. That’s why I’m always harping about finding our creative outlet - I love my settled place when I can get into it and I assume everybody needs the same thing.
As I’ve said, the subject is really secondary for me. It’s an excuse to smear color around. In fact, I’m actually impatient with subject driven paintings. I don’t want the artist to pin me down to a specific place, face, or sentimental mood. I want to do some of the work myself as a viewer. It is probably surprising that I’m still using a subject at all but nonobjective work is still hard for me to build a connection with. Maybe with more experience, I’ll get to that place. Right now, I’m choosing subjects that give me the lines and shapes I want to hang my painting on.
In this piece, I’ll lose a lot of the sweetness. The table with flowers on it , for instance. I want to put this stuff in there so I can lose it again. That’s what I”m thinking…..
