Clyde: Background Finished?
Posted By Carrie L. Lewis on January 25, 2010
That’s always the question I ask myself when I finish a painting session. Is that area done?
When I stopped work on the portrait of Clyde this afternoon, it was my assessment that the background was done.
The client decided early in the process that she preferred a solid background. No landscape. Nothing special.
She further decided to go with a color that would play a role in Clyde’s coat color, but left the selection of that color up to me.
I had been giving some thought to using Yellow Ochre mixed with a white and another earth tone. But I’ve never been completely satisfied with the way Yellow Ochre tints when used with a lot of white, so when I got ready to paint, I decided to try Transparent Yellow Oxide. After all, if it didn’t work, I could wipe it off and no harm would be done.
Transparent Yellow Oxide comes out of the tube very dark and although that fact made me hesitate, it didn’t stop me. I’m glad it didn’t. The tint is beautiful. It makes me think of warm, sunlit adobe in the lighter areas (and on a day as cold and windy as today is, I’ll take my warmth wherever I can get it!).
I applied Titanium White around the horse and Transparent Yellow Oxide around that. They were blended together with a large, China bristle flat, then I used a small trowel to smooth out the brush strokes. The result was a smooth paint surface with a random blending of colors that further enhanced the look and feel of adobe. It was such a pleasant effect that I did the entire background in that fashion.
Most of the background is light in tone and value, with both darkening toward the edges to create a ‘halo’ effect around Clyde’s head. In the upper left corner and the lower right corner, the color is almost entirely Transparent Yellow Oxide with just a suggestion of lighter value and in the extreme corners, I added Burnt Umber to further darken them.
When I stopped painting for the day, I decided the background was done. To reinforce that idea, I moved the painting from the studio to the drying easel in another room. That also removes the temptation to fiddle and tinker!
One note: The background does not follow the traditional Flemish painting methods of multiple layers. The juxtaposition of a background painted with a heavier, opaque method and a horse painted with finer detail and thinner color layers has always worked well for this type of portrait.
The next step is to let the background dry completely. I’m not sure how long it will take the Transparent Yellow Oxide, but the white will require about a week to dry sufficiently. I’ll check the painting again toward the end of the end, but I don’t plan on doing any further work on it until next Monday.
I am a self-taught artist for the most part. Lots of trial and error in the past forty years! Formal art training consists of a couple of years of high school art, a painting class at a community college, one semester in the Fine Arts program at Abilene Christian University and a couple of local workshops.
I am always looking for ways to better my artistic skills, so I am a permanent student in the School of Trial and Error. I love reading and have been known to spend hours online researching materials and techniques. As a result, I've painted in several different styles, including the direct method (which goes straight for the color) and Classical methods (which involves underpaintings, layering and glazing).
I have exhibited paintings in locations such as Lone Star Park Race Track, Grand Prairie, Texas and Remington Park Race Track, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Since the early 90s, I've worked with the Michigan Harness Horseman's Association, donating custom portraits to their annual benefit auction.
In the course of maintaining a growing art business, I have taught myself web design (a skill that will no doubt prove to be a continual learning experience).
I also enjoy puttering around the yard, chasing trains with my husband, Neal, travel and, of course, looking at horses whenever they appear on my horizon.
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