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Anatomy of a Commission
Original sketch. I do my rough generally in pencil and felt-tip and reduce in a photocopier.
Color notations are done on the photocopy in case something has to be changed. This, as well
as the proposal, (price, etc.) is faxed or emailed to the client. Copies are also sent to
the dealer.
First revised sketch. My original has been reworked and
recopied in the photocopier. Erasing or whiting out of the
original is a fast and effective way to make changes. Just
working for a few minutes with the sketches helps to see
problems that might arise.
Second revised sketch with phallic device removed. The client
chose this one. With the use of the fax the client generally
makes a decision quite quickly. If they receive a rough in
the regular mail they are more liable to take their time.
The canvas has been primed with two coats of opaque gesso in
a warm tone. for this sort of painting I'm drawing fairly
carefully from reference. The drawing of the poles, which in
my opinion must be correct, is the only part that will be
drawn in. I'm doing the drawing more or less in raw umber.
The background area around the poles is being put in here. I
like to have a strong pattern in my paintings and it's
important to get that basic design down early in the work. The
approximate area and darker tones of the foreground bushes is
also put in.
With the use of a rag I'm glazing the whole painting. This is
in order to pull down the values and establish an overall
tone. Pthalo blue is the glazing color used at the top of the
painting--gradating down to a burnt sienna glaze at the bottom.
The mountain snow is in pure white. Here again I'm thinking
of a pattern that will relate to the foreground material--trying
to carry through some of the design elements of the main motif.
I'm constantly looking for traps I might fall into and
down-the-line problems the painting might give me.
Here you can see I've worked around the snow with negative areas
with a gradation down to the trees. the sky has also been
put in fairly flatly in a slightly warmer tone. The idea is
to establish the sky and distant tone that will subsequently
affect foreground elements.
The foreground has begun to take shape. It's really a set-up
using the positive elements of the bushes to be able to come
in and produce the warm grass area in negative. More glazes
have taken place in the meantime--for example the pure white
of the snow has been reduced with another glaze. Some
tentative forming has been done of the poles.
Sometimes it takes a bit of fiddling to establish the right
balance of warm and cool. While I'm anxious to have the lower
part of the poles reflecting the foreground light, it's also
important to get the counterpoint of the gray wood of the poles.
At this point the mind is making thousands of tiny decisions
that hopefully add to the effectiveness of the whole.
Recessions and protrusions, enhanced rhythmic ideas, toning
down, brightening up, counterpoint and textural considerations
all make their contribution. Much of it is subconscious.
A kind of timidity sets in toward the end of the work. There's
a search of local problems and with it, a tendency to tighten
up. One is often caught on the horns of dilemmas and the
great fear at this time is in the possibility of overworking.
At one point I just up and say 'enough',' and the job is done.
The appendage being produced on a separate canvas. This is to
fullfill my need for anthropological correctness. The extra
part will be in reserve, cut to shape, taped to the back of
the sketches and available to be attached, with Velcro, if
required.
Final glazing. With the use of a rag, I've put down a wash of
acrylic medium cut with water. After that's dry I appy a
second coat of Golden Final Varnish with UVLS. This should make
the painting color fast for perhaps several hundred years.
"Facing West"
The finished work ready to go to the dealer. He will meet with the client to choose the frame,
and later, hang the painting in its special place. You might notice that the strong colour of
the foliage has been reduced. My friend Zoltan Kiss was in the studio last night. We discussed
the red colour. We both agreed that the painting would be better with some subduing in this
area.
Click to View the finished work
If you would like to contact Robert Genn to discuss this process or to make any comment -- he
is at
[email protected]