I entirely failed to update this blog as frequently as I intended, when I launched it a few months ago. The reasons can be explained here but that will make an extremely boring post and will be a total waste of precious time and energy.
The paintings, however, did progress.
A number of big changes and great leaps in progress occurred, but for the most part the hours, days and weeks go into all the bits of detail and the never-ending process of fiddling with the finer color nuances in pursuit of the illusion of realism.
This is the 3rd painting in the series and overlooks Devil’s Peak and the flats beyond. Gold, and the mining industry. The suspended fist pours liquid gold which turns to gold leaf on the cold granite steps of Rhodes.
There is a lot of color mixing involved and a good deal of the time goes into that endeavor. Due to the size of the canvasses, it happens that I have to frequently mix the same color and, to add to that little challenge, mix the same color after many weeks passed. This mixing has evolved during the course of this project into a new obsession. The tonal range is even more varied as in music and to mix the the tone which is just exactly the right temperature, is a great satisfaction. If the freshly mixed color is just a fraction too hot or cold it messes up the depth perception; the illusion of depth.
- Why, oh why did I ever conceive of painting a Victorian fabric print in the foreground?
Nr. 2 is progressing nicely. All parts of the city received attention and parts of Cape Town city is already discernible. The huge mission still lies ahead: rearranging the city bowl and especially the gardens into the squares of a chess set!
