This painting, Letterlocked, was a practice run for the size and complexity I’d need for The Seasons, a client- commissioned group of paintings (4) that I’m working on now in 2023.
The “cartoon” drawing for the painting, done actual size, 24” x 36”. This drawing was then transferred to the gessoed panel.
The beginnings of the work with much of the top part of the painting still very loose and washy.
Rendering the mushrooms more fully.
In 2022 started and finished an intricate painting on a 24"x 36" cradled hardboard panel. First I sealed the hardboard surface with acrylic gesso and then gave it an oil surface (Winsor & Newton oil ground)-- by applying a few layers with a foam roller. The resulting finely pebbled texture is very satisfying to paint on.
The celandine poppy coming into focus. And a snek.
The “cartoon” was done on paper at actual size to establish the design and drawing. I then scanned the drawing and projected it using my trusty LG digital projector. I took these extra steps -- drawing it on paper, and then scanning and projecting-- because I feared that drawing directly on the oil ground would score or abrade the oil surface too much. Since then, I’ve found that the oil ground is very hardy and can take a lot of punishment without any damage.
The drawing was then fixed with an archival fixative (spray aerosolized plastic outside, folks!) and then I began the underpainting by layering pale oil washes over the drawing so as to somewhat preserve the heavier lines of the drawing. As it comes into focus and the value structure evolves, I begin working in those areas. As you can see, the fungi were the first to appear (biggest interest) so I rendered them first. Other areas surrounding the mushrooms started becoming more defined so I began working there next.
More completion of the middle of the work.
No area gets completely finished all at once, so I work back and forth, adding more definition, reestablishing the drawing, always glazing and scumbling-- lighter here, darker there. I tend to paint wet-into-wet a lot, but I truly love glazing layers. Some areas have as many as 8 or 10 layers of thinly applied paint.
What is letterlocking you ask? It's the old practice of sewing and sealing your letter with wax to create an “envelope” to ensure that the letter hasn’t been read and not tampered with. In 2022, unopened letters from Mary Queen of Scots surfaced and were unsealed by historians. The banished rival of Queen Elizabeth I used a “dagger” of paper to weave through her letter and then she sealed it with wax. The average person’s letter was usually stitched with thread and then sealed with wax on either side. Apparently, there are still bins and bins of unopened letters in England’s post offices.
The letterlocked letter amidst the violets.
I became intrigued with the idea that sealed letters might have been lost and never received~ except perhaps, by the earth and the things that grow over it.
The completed work. Available for purchase and as prints at ImageKind.
The fourth and final panel of the *Seasons* series commission for clients. This is still a work-in-progress, and this blog entry reveals the initial stages of the painting. I’ll add more photos and commentary as it’s completed.
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