Sand Sifters (Final Stage)
The scene is the beach on the west coast of Bataan in the Philippines. You can tell the time of day is about noon from the shadows and the highlights. The contrasts are purposely strong, and the white hats are the show stealers. This painting is more about the design elements than actually capturing a moment in time, so the figures are more symbolic than spelled out. But any time near the sea is memorable ,and this day was no exception. Sun, surf, and sand….perfect!
Sand Sifters (First Stage)
This painting is about the bold color contrasts in the hot sun. In this first stage of the painting, I have blocked in the underlayers of darker tones and planned for the accents of lit up whites in the bright sun. The figures are roughly stroked in to test overall design of lights and darks. Any beach lover could relate, I think, to the activity of combing for shell, glass, or creature treasures at the water’s edge.
Song of Songs Bride
King Solomon’s Song of Songs includes a poetic dialogue between lovers, providing only a hint of the passion of God for the people he pursues. The groom goes to great lengths to find the bride, and the bride, so lovely in her longing and preparation, awaits the embrace. She is called the Bride of Shulam, dark and beautiful. She symbolizes all imperfect human life before God, dark, beautiful and passionately loved.
Milk Bottle Bouquet (Final Stage)
Now the painting is completed to a soft finish. Compare to the previous two days. There is a perfectionist tendency in most serious painters to perfect, perfect, perfect. The result could be disastrous in an entirely overworked and minutely labored painting. The losses would include the strength and boldness of the brushstroke, the simplicity of the statement, the prompt to the imagination to fill in the gaps. So the wise adage: “Quit before you’re finished,” is underscored in my effort.
Milk Bottle Bouquet (Middle Stage)
At about this point in the painting process, I realized that I was painting an antique…the milk bottle of my elementary school lunches. True to my nature, I usually had chocolate. The cardboard tops were saved for all kinds of other uses. The bottle really gives character to the little cluster of wildflowers. Here in the middle stage, there is more attention to what will become light and shadow on the flowers. Since the display is backlit, most of each flower is in shadow, and only some few blossoms and edges will be catching light. Hopefully the painting is gradually “coming into focus” for you.
