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Vantage Point: Step 10

Vantage Point

Work to complete the wall went much faster than I had anticipated. The under-painting was fairly complete as far as establishing the basic geometry and color of the concrete, and as I mentioned in the last step, all that remained was to add some texture and a few highlights. I did this with a relatively dry brush, and a palate of colors slightly lighter than those used in the under-painting. As with hair and fabric, the easiest mistake to make at this point is to over-do it. I estimate 60 percent of the first layer of paint is still showing, and a very small amount of the primer coat as well. The same goes for the mortar.

Before finishing for the day I thought I might as well sketch in a few perspective guidelines for the brickwork floor. I had planned on using a two-step process similar to the one used to paint the concrete, but as I began laying down the first colors, I realized that black primer color would work just as well as an under-painting for the color of the stone. I already had the basic colors on my palette, and from the beginning I had intended to keep the background as simple as possible so I decided to try and finish the painting. I was actually surprised at how quickly I was able to paint the bricks.

I used a little straight titanium white to strengthen the highlights on a few areas of the dress, and along the edge of the shoulder and the calf of the right leg. I spent perhaps an hour making small adjustments and doing general touch-up work, and then decided I was happy enough with the overall feel of the piece to call it finished. After signing and dating the painting, I sat back and spent a half-hour or so just taking it in: evaluating the finished product. As one of the most quickly painted pieces I have completed to date, I am extremely pleased with it. Up close it contains some of the loosest, roughest brushwork I have ever employed (in areas such as the bricks and the reflections in the glass), but it doesn’t come across as loosely painted. The work on the fabric of the dress is, I think, some of the best I have ever done, and I am similarly proud of the flesh tones and the overall posture of the figure. A very simple painting, but in the end, one of my personal favorites.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 27th, 2005 at 10:37 am and is filed under Vantage Point. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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About Bryan Larsen ~

Bryan Larsen

"I was born on February 12, 1975, and have been drawing as long as I can remember. By the time I was in high school, I knew I wanted to be an artist, although at the time I didn't have a clear idea of how exactly I would use my talents to make a living.

"As I continued studying art, I began to suspect that fine visual art was dead. No one seemed interested in teaching students how to draw well, or paint well. More often than not, my own skills exceeded those of my instructors.

"The only field left that seemed to require good drawing, painting, and compositional skills was illustration, and therefore I began studying illustration at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. I became even more convinced that I had made the right decision in staying away from fine art as I endured course after course of required "drawing" and "painting" classes in which instructors required me to draw with "less focus", or use ridiculous materials such as shellac, glue, sand, salt, etc.

"My second year at Utah State, I met Damon Denys. In discussing Art with him I realized that there were other people who believed that technique and subject matter were indispensable components of any work of art. I then decided that I would work to develop my own painting skills with the purpose of creating artwork that I considered worthy of being called Fine Art.

"Since that time, I have studied on my own: Drawing from live models to learn the human form, studying proper painting techniques from any source I could find ample reason to trust, and developing a philosophy of Art based on reason, and life on earth.

"My goal is to portray the heroic and romantic in human nature and human achievement in a realistic style and a modern setting. I place particular emphasis on composition, technique, realistic detail, proper craftsmanship and consistency of style."