Friday, November 2, 2012

Merman



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdcsYesm3wE&feature=share&list=ULEdcsYesm3wE

The above link is to my latest painting project, a merman in acrylics on 40" x 30" canvas.

This was supposed to be an abstract drawing for a friend, who wanted a painting for a large open wall. After a few days of thought, an idea for an underwater scene with twirling waves and such, came to me.

But abstract is an untried concept for me, and unfortunately, to subtract something from an idea, it must first be seen. Which meant, once the drawing began for the underwater scene, it quickly progressed to sunken ships, fish and a merman. And once the details were birthed, it seemed wrong to delete or minimize them into abstractness. Sorry, that's just the way my mind works. So a merman was born.

The concept drawing began on two 8.5" x 11" pieces of copy paper taped together. Intrigued, I taped more pieces together to make a 40" x 30" surface upon which to do a study. A sunken ship was added, some fan coral, some fish with which the merman is communicating, some kelp and fan coral.

Never having worked on such a large surface, let alone working on a large surface with acrylics, which dry quickly, was interesting, but really not difficult. The secret is to keep the acrylics wet on the pallet. This is done with a small spray bottle of water. When not in use, the sprayed pallet will keep for 2-3 days, if kept covered. NEVER spray the work surface (the canvas) or everything will lift and run.

The canvas, which was purchased primed, was gessoed and a few coats of background blues were applied, until I was satisfied with the colors. Using white Saral paper, the merman, ship and fish were transfered onto the canvas. The color mixing, stroking and dabbing went on for a few weeks, until I was satisfied that the merman vision in my head sufficiently matched the one now on canvas.

Thanks for viewing and I hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions about it, please email me at thewickedbrush@gmail.com and check out my web site www.wickedbrush.com