Kauai beach scene step III... not without a struggle....

This painting has become an exercise in humility. I fumbled the ball by not mixing enough paint, which led to a prolonged "mix and match" exercise... literally! Acrylics dry darker, hence my difficulty.

This is not over yet. I'll be back!

Kauai beach scene step II... it felt like jumping off a cliff!

It is interesting to find out that just a few changes in technique can put someone totally off balance. In this case, I decided to mix paint with a palette knife instead of using a brush and I used thicker paint than usual for this second application (I used acrylic gel instead of acrylic medium). It was panic city for a while but I realized quickly that I could push paint around easier owing to the slower drying time of the gel. I even instinctively used the palette knife for the trees and background. I stuck to large brushes to avoid details at this stage... except for the Chinese calligraphy on the bathing suit.

After a couple of hours of frantic work (so much for calligraphic brush strokes!), I ran out of gas and left the bag and sandals in the back "one step behind".

Part of my objective with this technical change is to create a richer surface. The other aspect is being able to gain full control of larger surfaces using a bolder approach to paint application (less dependent on glazes).

Kauai beach scene... still experimenting with the large figure...

Leading towards the 100 m Olympic series, here is another one emphasizing the body. This will be an experiment on the validity of using a fairly rigid first pass as the foundation for a looser final rendering. After all, I need all the help I can get (a safety net that is)!


This is a 30 X 30 canvas... my intent is to finish this painting one calligraphic brush stroke after another!

Tampa beach scene finale.... prudence won over boldness!

Overall, this was a good exercise on painting the larger figure (30 inch high, large surface area). I had to gobble up a big piece of "humble pie" with this one! For one thing, I need to mix more paint to exercise better control on fast drying acrylics. Using a retarder may help to push colors around, especially in the final stage of development.


On the question of style, looking at my last three paintings, I've gone from pretty loose to fairly tight in execution... again!


The one on the left, at first glance, looks like organized chaos (or organized emotions in paint to be less harsh on myself) and is, in a way, almost abstract. However, it gains tremendous strength when viewed from a distance and becomes almost photographic.

This is where I am going: a painting saddling abstraction and pure figuration and seemingly put together with a tremendous sense of urgency ... as if my very own life depended on it!

In retrospect, what really made the difference with the painting I just referred to was the security blanket of a stronger underpainting. As a result, much fewer marks were required to complete the painting giving it more freshness in my view.

Another important aspect that I must exploit in future paintings is separating colors as opposed to blending them to death! This second pass from one of my previous paintings exemplifies this:


These are my "notes to self" for today!

Tampa beach scene step IV...

After 3.5 hours of painting time, I am fairly satisfied with this first large scale figure painting, although this is not where I want to go in the future... I want much looser!

I need to wait for some daylight tomorrow to balance out colors... here and there, if need be.


Note to self: "There was way too much thinking and hesitation for my liking on this one. I need to prepare my mind for a 6 foot canvas to paint loose on a 3 foot canvas..."

Tampa beach scene step III... things are looking up!

I zipped through this third pass in an hour trying to retain as much freshness as possible while remaining in line with a totally figurative painting style.

The last pass should add even more variety to fairly large areas of skin, which still represent for me a challenge...

Note to self: "This is all nice and dandy, but once I get involved in the 100 m Olympic series, I want a quantum leap towards a more contemporary style of painting. Smearing, dripping...you name it!!!!"

Tampa beach scene step II... not sure where I am going with this one...

Using a bad brush to loosen up, I applied a second layer with no clear idea of where I was going. Like they say in marketing, if you don't know where you're going, you're likely to get there faster!

A stroke of luck for now: the sunshine from my studio window created a value pattern for the background that I did not anticipate. At least, I can follow suit on that... as for the figure, I will pray!

This is a 24 X 30 painting, so I would like like everything to stay loose... and look real detailed from 100 yards!