Ultimate fighter VI -step III... Trying to open a door!

The third pass was fluid and transparent to retain as much of the original look as possible...

I think I need to take a pause before completion... this "fragment of memory" look is something I've been after for a while!

Montreal world film festival...

In the context the Montreal world film festival, I had a chance over the weekend to see a documentary on a fellow artist now living in Nicaragua: Jean Marc Calvet. It's the extraordinary story of an individual who managed to find his redemption in the visual arts after having lived a very dark period in his life. It's truly inspirational and Dominic Allan, director and producer, is to be congratulated for his excellent cinematography and the way he approached an emotionally charged situation at the end of the documentary...

Having lunch with Dominic Allan was a real treat. I wish him good luck in all his future endeavours.

Ultimate fighter VI -step II... Lost the habit of raw cotton/linen!

I aimed at a fluid second pass but was confronted with the super absorbency of raw cotton/linen (I had almost forgotten it seems)...

 Still, I like the raw appearance of the painting at this stage. I modified my palette somewhat since the beginning of this fighter series, so I'm anxious to see the impact on this kind of support...

Note to self: "There's no two ways about it... I need to vary my technique depending on the support!"

Ultimate fighter VI -step I... Trying soot and walnut stain on raw cotton/linen...

I've been wanting for a while to try my recently developed techniques on raw cotton/linen...

A bit rougher but as exciting nonetheless! A perfect monochromatic image is probably impossible to achieve on this type of canvas... but the idea is to retain as much as possible the spirit of this first pass. Strangely enough, soot is easier to manipulate than walnut stain on this type of canvas... it remains granular when diluted.

Note: I'm having a pregnant pause before delineating the upper fighter's left ear!

Soot experiment IV final... Working nuances...

I took an hour or so this morning to slap another coat of paint in an attempt to introduce more color nuances...

A few finishing touches in the afternoon gave me more or less what I wanted from this picture. This photo was taken in the bright sun shine...

Note: I used walnut stain instead of soot for the underpainting with this one... but both are very similar in behaviour... I think I will call this one "whirlwind"...

Soot experiment IV - step IV... Slowly gravitating towards fully saturated colors...

For the fourth coat, I decided to go with fluid transparent washes to introduce some nuances...

Another coat will be required to get the darks and nuances I'm after...

Note: I'm developing two sets of techniques in parallel: 1) the use of black soot and/or brou de noix as a substitute for paint in the creation of  full-blown images 2) The optimal use of paint over underpaintings made with soot and/or brou de noix. Ultimately, I'd like to mix and match these techniques to create images that show characteristics associated with charcoal drawings, old photographs and contemporary art (drippings, splashes, textural effects, etc...).

Soot experiment IV - step III... Still a bit rough on the edges!

A quick third pass with thicker painting led to this somewhat roughed out version...

 Darker contrasts and more nuances will be the order of the day tomorrow...