The artist (that's me!) on a windy Plein Air day in La Paz, Mexico

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Beginning of a New Painting - Pots with New History


I've been working on a collection of paintings titled "Pots with History."  These are old, weathered, tattered, cracked and chip pots with very evident history.  I am now working on a new collection of paintings titled "Pots with New History."  These conversely are new pots just starting on their adventure into history.  Following is the steps taken in the creation of the first piece and as it proceeds I will add to this until the finished painting is posted.  J. Richard Secor

The first step was to cut a piece of 1/4 inch MDF to a size of H-30 x W-24 - sand it and apply a coat of liquid gesso.  After that dried, using a palette knife with Super Heavy Gesso I drew in the rough shape of the Pot and a textured back ground and foreground. (see photo above)


The next step was to create some color within the shape of the pot - this was done using a palatte knife.  (see photo above)


 
This is a photo of some of the detail applied with the palette knife - this is a very "textured" painting due to the application of Super Heavy Gesso and the use of a lot of paint palette knife applied.  (see photo above)


The next step was to apply additional color for the shadow areas using lots of paint with the palette knife
(see photo above)



I next added some more color and texture to the body of the pot and I started to develop the base the pot is sitting on which is a round cut out from a large diameter tree trunk.  (see photo above)





I next added some wall color as well as the indication of a low side shelf to the viewers right.



The last step in the painting process was to finish the background and the curved face of the tree trunk stand the pot is sitting on.  After finishing a painting I make it take 10!!  10 days that is-  in the "viewing corner" where I will check it out off and on to see if any refinements are needed.  During this time the paint cures - however this painting will take about a month to cure as the paint application with the palette knife is quite heavy.
After it has cured and any and all final adjustments are made and cured I will put several isolation coats on the surface and once dry I will follow with two coats of varnish.

COMPLETED