2020
I became interested in working in a half tone background lately, and primed a few things in various blues and purples. I have done a lot of painting ground into figure, that is, to start with dark and paint the light. It seems like a very natural way to think for me. Imagine sculpture as being reductive, carving away at something, or additive, where you build things up. Painting is like that, and painting the light rather than the shadow feels good to me. Creating negative spaces is how I think, as far as constructing compositions. But using a half tone lets me work both ways, painting the light, then drawing back and emphasizing shadows. This painting came off very quickly for me. That day I had seen just the right light on something I've been watching quite a while. I left it as almost a sketch, or a very soft style, not quite like a lot of my other work.