This month's challenge was to paint on black. Now, I used to do this regularly for awhile. I think I got the idea from Karin Jurick and I did like the drama of the color on it. But once its painted over, there isn't much point really. Then I began to paint mostly on a grayed surface, sometimes gessoing many panels at one time in a nice latex house paint actually (idea from Ken Auster) which gives a nice smooth surface. But lately I've been painting mostly onto white linen or gessoboard and using thin washes and wiping back some too to achieve more transparent passages. Its funny how my own techniques vary widely depending on my mood and subject.
This time I let the black be, and I painted only the areas of light, so the black is the clayboard surface (only thing I had in black.) It was interesting to paint only the color areas, leaving his eye sockets empty and his shoulder and her shirt and hair just unpainted essentially. All the negative space is untouched. It was a neat experiment. Now, the clayboard is thirsty, so I had to paint some of those passages several times to make the color sing. I'm curious how the others got their very dense black grounds. Will have to read on... follow their links to read more with me!
Glass Artists
5x7 oil on clayboard
©2011 Robin Cheers
Blue & Pink
9x12 pastel
©2011 Vicki Ross
Sunny Side Up
16x20 oil on board
©2011 Suzanne Berry
Sweet Reflections
Not So Crystal Ball
20x24 oil on canvas
©2011 Sharman Owings
Megan Noir
4x6 oil on canvas
©2011 Ruth Andre
