Deluge

The left two images show the painting in-process. Sometimes, the initial layer or two of paint for these paintings tempts me to call it done, yet as this was the first oil painting I had attempted in over 20 years, I stuck with the plan which was to push the limits and risk ruining it. 

Notes taken directly from my reflection journal, uncut and unedited:

I enjoy the shadows produced by the lighting of my pieces. I envision or perceive much more in those shadows than is actually evident and this put the urge in me to depict the possibilities of what can be seen employing the properties of oil paint with oil painting techniques. I project and trace as much as possible then begin to let the paint do its thing and let the painting dictate where ever it leads. In a way, I am using the paint to continue to de or reform mattress springs. I equate this to standing under a tree and looking at the sky beyond the leaves. The sky, which is infinite, yet many times the illusion that the blue in between the leaves can appear to be advancing is very powerful. (see white/cream layering in between the orange in the upper mid part of this painting). I see this same thing happening within the physical piece and in the shadows the lighting produces. The last few layers of paint are done using translucent layers. I base where to apply these layers on creating zones or areas where I envision hues or values considering balance and emphasis. Once I have the base layers down showing most of the actual piece and the shadows I then see playing with hue and value as armies invading the zones or areas similar to the game of Risk once all players have their initial armies set on the board. I play with hue by adding colors that are not in the photo. I do this in order to challenge the viewer such as the pink squiggles in the main green area. I particularly enjoyed the convergence of the 3/16” steel rod and its shadows in the mid, upper right quadrant of the painting. That convergence naturally divided the canvas into zones. I also left the matte, chartreuse latex paint remain inside the knife-like shape emanating from the lower right and jutting diagonally toward the intersection in order to highlight the sheen difference between it and the Linseed oil layering.