Labels

Steve in Yellow

Steve in Yellow, 2005-08, oil on canvas, 36 x 30 inches
It seemed that I would never finish this painting. It has been three years of working on it, putting it away, forgetting about it, bringing it out and reworking it, hiding it, reworking it, and now I can say I'm done! I started this painting in late summer of 2005 and was finished, to my believe then, in October. Then in December I realized that I was not happy with it. Since that day I embarked on a long back and forth relationship with the portrait; funny how art imitates life. In the end, after technical struggles I can say I'm happy with the end product, but I didn't do it alone. I have to thank my friends Josh and Oscar for critiquing the piece as it sat on the easel or hung on my wall. Their fresh eyes helped me see the things I was not noticing. There are so many layers of paint that there are areas where the canvas is no longer visible, such as the area of the face. It was always the face I had problems with, and maybe it still looks a bit off but I think it's the best it will ever be, but before I start making more changes and repainting the face I took the painting out of my apartment and made a run for it to work.
Email Post
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hey Luis, this looks great. The way you worked the background strokes and color accomplishes a very nice atmospheric feel. I think you worked the left hand in beautifully too, since it was a rework (I think you had it scraped out when I last saw this). The right hand is a bit awkward; cutting off the appendage at a junction is risky and can make the figure feel like an amputee (especially with the appendage so forward in the picture plane). However, that might be just the "edge" you are looking for in the portrait, as it is very confrontational and direct.
12:44 PM
Luis Colan said…
thank you semifl, the picture of this painting was cropped a bit at the bottom since my caremra alway rounds off any triangular edge. I did not get to paint the full arm and hand but you do get to see the top of his right hand in the original painting. I do get what you are saying though and did think about it all the time but for some reason I didn't seem to mind of care for that. Guess I just became to absessed with other aspects of the painting.
7:57 PM
Post a Comment

Popular Posts