Sitting Pose

This is a work in progress of Ashley in a sitting pose. The piece is a 30" x 40" oil on canvas. I prefer close cropped compositions as they bring the viewer in and allow a shared intamacy with the image. The set was lit with full spectrum daylight bulbs on one side and an incandecent lamp on the other. This brings forth an ample range of cool and warm tones on Ashley's skin and creates an interesting tension between inside/outside. I have employed the dead palette which limits the pigments to Yellow Ochre, Transparent Yellow Lake, Raw Sienna, Raw Umber, Mars Violet Deep, English Red, Alizarin Crimson, Titanium White, Mars Black & Blue Black.

Various Studies

In order to best determine how to approach an image, artists typically make several sketches and studies and then proceed to work with a choice of medium for the final piece. With this particular composition, I chose a pose with classical precedent and tried multiple studies from various angles in different media. The top most is an ala prima oil study on canvas board, the middle a vine charcoal on paper and the last a silver point. I was dissastisfied with all three, and decided to scrap a final piece, but the excersise gave me insight which will help with this pose in the future.

Rock Temple Beach

There is a rocky beach on the eastern shore of Mackinac Island facing Lake Huron where there are erected thousands of sculptures made of stacked rocks. Someone started this trend a decade ago and it has attracted visitors to stop and construct their own. This is temporary art that is natural and geographically specific. Each piece acts as a unique installation that is part of a greater whole. The beach is organic and alive and is meant to elicit a response from the viewer who also acts as the participant in its creation, upkeep and evolution. There is a spiritual element in building a sculpture from found objects that creates a dialogue between the man made and the natural. This is my sculpture, I do not expect it to remain there long, for the elements will undoubtedly knock it down, but on my return trip, I shall build another.