celebration 26, 36x36" after removing the black i added earlier today. better, eh?
6:37 PM: mikela walked over to the studio late this afternoon to have a look at the newly blacked over celebration 26. she pointed out, accurately, that the sensitivity of the painting had been lost. she’s got such a good eye!
i spent about an hour scrubbing off the fresh black oil paint with some old washclothes soaked in a solvent. and here she is.
celebration 26, 36x36” as she looked after blacking over 2/3 of the composition
1:40 PM: there was too much white in the composition. the dramatic figures were getting lost. so i mixed up some black oil paint, attached it to my trusty long stick and began painting black around the figures. when i got about 3/4 of the way down, i stopped. and then i took one of my spatulas and scraped 3 vertical tree trunk-like marks vertically down into the black.
i had 2 fans on high to avoid breathing in the toxic fumes, and i think it worked.
i can’t hang it till it dries a bit to avoid drips, but on first glance, i think the black works, and as a result it’s a far more powerful painting.
