Step 22 Rockin’

Today work begins on the steps and the rock walls. I want the steps to darken and cool as they go down, disappearing off the bottom edge of the canvas. They will lighten and warm as they rise to the terrace, sweeping your eye up, into the painting. I know I sound like a broken record with this Warm and Cool stuff, but it probably is one of the most important concepts in representational painting. When I started painting Jack made signs and stuck them on my easel, refrigerator and bathroom mirror, WARMS COME FORWARD, COOLS GO BACK. I believe it finally soaked in (Smile). Now I sound like him!

Above is my palette. I saved the color mixes from the foreground arches and used them as the base to make the paint for the rock walls. I added various amounts of ultramarine blue, mud (ultramarine blue + alizarin crimson) and white to gray down the arch colors.  The palettes we use are 1/4″ glass on a white shelf board. Because we paint on white canvas it helps to mix our color on white. Some artists paint on a tinted canvas, however we like to use white canvas because the colors retain their luminosity. The glass makes for very easy clean up. We just use a painting knife and single edge razor blade scraper to clear up the paint.

When painting the rock walls I try not to get too nit picky with the rocks. The tiles on the terrace are accurately delineated. The walls are more impressionistic, with just indications of the rocks. Early on I tried to paint each rock individually with very disappointing results. I finally learned to just mix a lot of color, smoosh the varying hues of paint around with my brush on the wall area and the rocks would begin to appear. Then I go back in, here and there indicating the indentations between the rocks. I hope this makes some sense.

That’s all for today, please come back tomorrow. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

Website:  http://www.senkarik.com  Email:  senkarik@senkarik.com