25.05.2019: The extraordinary photo source for this painting is by the Italian photographer Paolo Pellegrin. For me, this face unites all the suffering of this world. I waited a long time before I dared to work with this template. It will not be easy to do justice to it, but I will try anyway.
The painting is in the format 70/70 cm on raw canvas. Technically, I use the same means that I used in my last paintings: Black ground of gesso, first layer with a broad brush on a wet ground, paint enriched with plenty of wood ash. Afterwards I work out the details of the figure step by step with a slightly finer brush. In terms of colour, I keep the painting rather cold with top-grain, violet and purple tones, as well as light blue for the light areas. The only warm contrast I create is with orange and red tones in the eyes.
10.06.2019: Today I'm working exclusively on the details and trying to get the colours even more differentiated. The hands are still flat and the eyes need some additional shades of orange to intensify the drama of the look. They are the magical point of attraction when looking at this painting anyway. The warm red-orange tones contrast with the light blue and purple of the shiny dark skin. By the evening I've almost made it and there's not much left to finish: the fingertips and nails of the left hand as well as the inside of the right hand still need minor corrections. But there is not enough time for that today...
14.06.2019: Today I reworked the supposedly minor details. At the moment I'm a little unsure whether I haven't tinkered too much again. Yesterday I thought the painting was more coherent overall. But now I'll leave it at that for the time being. As always, I need some time to finally judge whether I am convinced by the work...
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