Two days underpainting Spree Killer, here is a look at the colour study:
It was a slow day yesterday, I woke late and tired, so rather than start painting I proofread part of The Many Beautiful Worlds of Death. In the afternoon started on the 'rocks' on the right here.
The initial composition was something like my 'Prometheus as a Turkey' painting, which was itself inspired by a masterful painting called Holly by Louis Smith, which presumably was itself inspired by Leonardo's Virgin on the Rocks. A view of a light sky as seen from a sort of cave. I wanted a light yellow sky rather than blue, as the house on the left is burning. This made the overall hue warm and yellow, so I made the floor blue-ish, well, greenish, actually cobalt turquoise, for balance.
Most of the rocks use raw umber, which is just a little too transparent for comfort for an underpainting. The hue is pretty but it needs real exactitude of application to get a perfectly smooth layer.
Today I finished most of the rest, leaving the family group for tomorrow.
The title was conceived at the instant of drawing it, as with most of my paintings, an idea about the psychology of a spree killer...
...perhaps; but perhaps not. When scaling the work up, I used a photo of my mother, brother, and self as the family, and the feeling and meaning for me, at least, is transformed. Most of my paintings this year, from Cromwell to the Gynocratic one are about my father.
I will complete the painting tomorrow. Like many of my recent works, this is a small 30x40cm. For years, my standard size was even smaller, 234x336mm, but now I feel that everything is too small. This painting would have been better bigger. The workload isn't hugely different when on canvas (on a smooth panel things are more difficult, dust is more evident and it takes more time to keep everything smooth and even). Generally, the time to paint is almost the same for a large painting, it's a matter of using bigger brushes, but more paint is needed, and (of course) a bigger surface, and a more expensive frame and more difficulty to transport. I have two other paintings drawn out from my initial 2021 batch, so I'm still on this first generation. The next one to draw out will be a relatively old idea, the Moon Over Shakespeare, but also a new work...
When will these works be framed or shown? Who knows. I have some exhibitions and competitions but always so much more work that I can show. So many of my paintings have hardly, or even never, been exhibited.
