Just to give you a sense of scale
So I have finally finished this painting (the orange one), Number 427. Anyone who has come by my studio during June and July has seen this thing in various stages of completion. Here are some progress shots.
There are two sets of prints here. This first set was printed on 4/15/12. The full array is up on the Prints page. This first group uses 3 shades of turquoise, in different color iterations:
4/15/12 All six iterations in turquoise. Each of these is a unique variation.
To get all of the variations I printed each screen twice in each color, then switched colors and repeated on the dry prints for each of the remaining screens. I started printing the lightest shade, adding more turquoise for each layer. Phthalo turquoise is one of my favorite colors. I first started using it in 2009 with Number 365 and 366.
4/15/12 Two variations with iridescent pearl. Sadly, this does not photograph well.
I did a few prints with a new color I picked up on a whim, iridescent pearl. I was curious how it would print and I am pleased to say it comes out pretty cool. It looks great both as an overlay and underneath the more transparent colors such as the blue and orange. Photographing it has proven difficult though. I have really been feeling the orange lately. Since painting Number 423 I have been thinking about colors based on how they would look next to orange.
4/15/12 This is one of my favorites from the run.
I did these the next day with some purple:
4/16/12 The purple/orange/green combination is one I will probably revisit soon.
On 4/22/12 I did more experiments with Orange. This time I mixed the pearl down with black and white for a grey color. It still maintains some of the iridescence.
04.22.12 Orange/Turquoise/Grey - three versions
04.22.12 Orange/Purple/Grey - two versions
This next
04.22.12 Orange/Purple/Turquoise - two versions
Finally, I printed this one, which I have been calling “Triple C” because is is a triple print of the 3rd screen. I have been resisting doing a multiple like this for awhile but I am pleased with the outcome.
04.22.12 Triple C
Number 423
Hard to believe it’s the end of March and this is the first painting of 2012, Number 423. I have been focused on the prints since January so I haven’t spent much time actually painting. It’s been a lot of fun but I needed to paint. I am still planning a giant painting on this roll of canvas I have.The plan has been to go very heavily multilinear on that since I will have space to put a lot of lines. This sketch was not dense enough for that size but I really liked it so I painted it at my regular size of 3′x4′.
2012_02_25-_8-00am001
Color
So first off, this is a palette switch from the last group of paintings. Notably the addition of the orange but also brown instead of yellow and a different pigment green. My last group had some orangey reds, but everything was squarely on the red end of the spectrum. This is definitely orange. I admit it was added because of the red-orange I have been using on the prints. I loved the effect when used with the purples, turquoise and green. The other change is the green is chromium oxide which has a matte finish and an earthy tone compared to the bright phthalo green. It is one of my favorite colors.
Besides the pigment changes, there has been a color pattern change as well. The previous two sets of paintings used 3-level sets for the interior space but in this painting I am using 2-levels. This painting has 5 colors in heavy and light saturation pairs, plus orange. The multilinear red/turquoise/purple/yellow/green paintings from last year (414-422) had two major interior colors and 2 minor interior colors in sets of 3 levels of saturation. Fourth levels of saturation were used for line or background. The yellow series (406-413) before that had a 5-level major color and two minors. The interior space of both groups of paintings was limited to 3 saturation levels of each color.
10 colors in light and heavy saturation pairs. At the time that I took this photo I had not yet mixed the big vat of orange.
Pairs of Blue, Turquoise, Purple
Two saturation variants of each color allow for some interesting patterns. I opted to alternate heavy/light horizontally within color and vertically across color. Here is what it looked like after I established the major color areas and began to identify the minor color clusters:
One application of each of the color pairs plus the second minor color cluster.
One Coat establishing all the color areas.
Fast forward many hours:
Many coats of paint later...
Music
On a side note I have been on a huge Afrobeat kick lately playing a lot of mid-70s Fela Kuti in the studio on repeat. Mostly “Gentleman,” “Zombie,” and “Expensive Shit.” This has been interspersed with some of my favorite Brazilian music, long-time obsession “Carlos, Erasmo” by Erasmo Carlos and “Africa Brasil” by Jorge Ben.