Deliberation: Step 1
Welcome back to the Artist’s Studio. This time around, I will be taking you step through the creation of ‘Deliberation’. I am particularly excited about this painting, not only because I am so happy with the way it turned out, but because it represents what I consider to be a major step forward in my flesh painting technique.
This is a relatively simple painting both in theme and in composition, but my hope is that the subtlety of the pose and the facial expression will add something a little more interesting. This painting began with a piece of scrap I shot almost as an afterthought during the photo shoot for ‘The Letter’. All told, I must have shot 25 different poses while I had the model available, and this one turned out to be my favorite. Not only was there a lovely structural composition in the angle formed by the arms and legs in relation to the torso, but the overall attitude of the figure, particularly the glance to the right opposing the direction of the body seemed to add a sense of inner action to an otherwise very quiet pose.
As is my usual practice, I began with a linen canvas, in this case 36 X 30 inches, sized with rabbit skin glue and primed with a mixture of lead white, ivory black, and burnt umber. Next, I worked from my photographic references to create as accurate as possible a drawing of the figure, paying special attention to the angular relationships in the pose that I thought were the most beautiful. Once I was happy with the drawing, I used a grid technique to transfer the drawing onto the canvas.
I have become increasingly wary of under-drawings eventually showing through the paint layers on top, and so I sketched the canvas in a very light venetian red, using a watercolor pencil. The drawing barely shows up in the first image below (taken straight from my camera), but with a little digital persuasion courtesy of Painter X, I was able to make it show up rather well in the second image.
Tags: Bryan Larsen, Deliberation
