My next best mark

What is my next best mark?

It needs to be different from the last mark. At this size, to make a bold mistake is costly and demoralizing. It happens though and I’m beginning to use the wads of waste as the base layer for future paintings. I’ll take the approach of the Old Masters and utilize the Italian method of applying a colored ground to the panel. I’ll let you know how that goes in another post.

This is where I am now with this 60″ x 30″ board. It’s still far from done and I’m contemplating my next step.

Is it cheating?

There’s another technique I resort to when I’m unsure of my next best mark. I cut out potential shapes of paper and place it on the composition. It’s a way of quickly changing the feel of the painting by playing with shape, dark/light and placement. All without painting!

Whenever I do this I feel like I’m cheating.

Am I not supposed to be able to see the possibilities in my mind? Sometimes I can.

Back to the Old Masters. They had their hacks too. Did Vermeer really use optics to project his images? Do a quick search on hacks of the old masters and you’ll find some interesting articles about the use of lenses and projections during this time.

Watch the film Tim’s Vermeer;

Inventor Tim Jenison, sets out to discover how the 17th-century artist used optics, hoping to prove his theory by painting his own version of Vermeer’s The Music Lesson.

And then read this article debunking the film.

Bolstered up once again, I started cutting shapes out of black construction paper and placing them on my big board.