Coming into Focus

I am using acrylic paints on this project because I want a flat, decorative look like the triptychs in Mary's book, "Hawai'i, a Sense of Place" which is where the clients first became interested in my work. What may not be apparent in the photos is the use of metallic gold paint to recreate a shimmering sense of light and give reflectivity to the piece so it interacts with its surroundings.

So as I get closer to completion the various parts of the painting start to swim into focus. Of course this doesn't mean that major changes couldn't still happen....

More Big Project

As I settle into the detail work of filling in and finishing the various parts of this triptych I am realizing what a big undertaking it is. When I imagine these projects at the start I never quite grasp their magnitude. Partly it's because I am working in acrylics and you just can't get away with the same sort of fuzzy vagueness that is so wonderful about oils. Plus I am attempting to get this very decorative Art Deco kind of look.

My niece Spinnacker has been helping me with my female anatomy. You'd think after all these years I would be an expert but I still tend to give them overly broad shoulders, narrow hips, misplaced breasts, etc etc. It's kind of embarrassing. Of course it is again my attempt at that art deco stylization....

My Big Project

I am embarrassed to say how long I have been working on this project for some very nice folks with a house in Hawai'i Kai on Oahu. But now it is percolating along although never as quickly as I anticipate. Since it is so large (7' tall vertical panels) I am creating it to scale directly on the canvases. I never feel that small mock-ups give me the same sense of placement and space as just doing it on the final format. So it is a process of incremental change.

The disparate shapes are a result of the wall areas. The horizontal one goes over a fireplace. The yellow and cream areas will be covered in a pale gold reflective acrylic paint, giving them an orientalist art-deco feeling.