18 January 2008

siena

Arches CP 300 gsm, 14" x 10".

another "backlog" painting, from the series of torso portraits of siena started last november. as pose instructions i asked to use her body as a stage and her hands as signs or characters.

the background is a bright yellow blackened into green. green is the shadow color on the figure, tempered by mixture with magenta, perylene maroon, burnt sienna and a light tint of nickel azo yellow.

the erotic significance of the torso is minimized by its matter of factness, the masking of the face, and the physical ease of the model. the painting of the torso is sloppy but fine grained, with edges and color shifts visible all over it, symbolizing the complexity within.

the light appears dim, intimate and prolonged, because the shadow contrast is not extreme. deep shadow visibility is a sign that the light is ambient and that the eye has had time to adapt to it.

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