Pod Painting

I finished another in my pod series, and this one is probably my favorite so far. It's rare for me to be really, really happy with one of my pieces, but this one does it for me (at least it does this week). I like the amount of negative space in this one and the way it is just one step away from being abstract. The focus on the solitary pod captures my mood for the month of July when I was retreating from all things social.

For those of you interested, here is the process I use, more or less--it's hardly a science.

I use 5 colors: Cad. red, Alizarin Crimson, Cad. Yellow Med, Cerulean blue, and Ultramarine blue, plus Titanium white. I start by loosely getting paint on the canvas. It's very watered down at this point and I let the drips occur naturally.

I decided I liked the canvas better flipped upside down, so rotated it and started loosely defining a pod. At this point, I knew I liked the idea of a solitary pod with lots of negative space all around it.

Bill Parks taught me to totally shake things up when I feel stuck. It has to be with big gestures--adding a bright color, painting out an entire area, something to completely redefine the painting. I didn't know where I wanted this to go, so I turned the canvas upside down again. I started toning down the canvas with grayed colors.

I started liking the composition, so began focusing on value and simplifying some areas. At this point I mix my paints with either matte medium or glazing medium to give them more richness.

Last steps are defining detail, intensifying or de-intensifying colors and values, and thinking about edges.

And close up: