I've been a bit stuck with my work lately. I therefore decide to start a spontaneous interim project to clear my head a little...
I have chosen a brilliant photo of the musician Justin Townes Earle from my photo collection (photographer unknown). I like Earle's music and especially his lyrics, which tell little stories about the darker side of life and about loners and outsiders. As a charismatic personality, I always find him an exciting subject for a portrait.
I still only want to work with the primary colors for this painting. I find the results of my experiments exciting so far and for the most part they convince me. I think this could become a longer affair.
This time I would like to use the color original rather than the black and white photo as template for my painting. The mood of this shot with the face in the bright backlight and the highlights in the eyes and glasses is very appealing. I want to reproduce this mood in my painting as faithfully as possible. The challenge will be not to lose myself in the details despite the fine color gradations of the skin and not to completely cover up the underlying layers of color.
Format 100/60 cm, painting ground smooth canvas primed white
30.08.2023: First I divide the landscape-format canvas with a broad brush on a wet surface into three unequal sectors, mint green at the top, magenta at the bottom right and the small sector at the bottom left in neon red.
31.08.2023: On top of this, I roughly sketch the motif with spray paint in various shades of blue and red.
3./4./8./9./10.09.2023: The rest is detail work with the brush. I try to preserve the spontaneous impression of the previous layers of paint as much as possible by only working with a 5 cm wide brush and only using a finer brush at the very end for the fine details of the glasses and the highlights in the lenses and eyes. I work quickly and decide spontaneously whether to apply the next layer of paint in liquid or paste form. I only correct any traces of liquid paint where they interfere with the motif...
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