November 11, 2013

A New Painting: "Blues"



Blues, egg tempera on calfskin parchment, 8 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. 


Like my most recent painting, Curves and Square, this new painting plays with symmetry/asymmetry. My choice when working out the composition for Blues was whether or not to have the central cylinder actually centered. It seemed to me that the weight of the painting would be off if I centered it, with the angled bar and leftward shape at bottom pushed too far to the left, leaving too much open space at right. So I decided that the angled bar would be centered instead. As for color, I worked with a redder blue at top, which might or might not be sky, and a cooler blue for the rest of the painting, separated by a light grayish bar. The image has a somewhat figural feeling to it, which I don't mind, since it adds a humorous touch; this would have been less pronounced if I'd left out the two circular shapes at top, but I thought "why not?".


Blues detail

4 comments:

  1. You could have called this, "thirds". When I look at it I see three's everywhere. Can't wait to look at it again with less tired eyes. Tonight I see at least six sets of three. Love it!

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    1. Hmmm, john, I don't see those threes, but I'm glad you like the painting.

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