Eyes Above

I completed a painting on a day when unexpected visitors came to my studio. They had picked up my rack card at the Williston Tourist Center on I-89 and came straight to visit. Lucy and Bruce are from Toronto. She is a glass artist (LucyRoussel.com), likes to look at other's work. Anyway, they wondered how I get from point A to point B, so here's a chronicle of my latest painting, "Eyes Above." This painting was inspired by a steeple in Hillsboro, NH, where I enjoyed Schneitzelfest with friends last month.

I usually do a series of thumbnail drawings, using the actual scene or a photo as a jumping off point. Once I begin to draw the same thing over and over, without changing much or leaving out more detail, I am am ready to consider colors for the painting.




I am exploring triadic color combinations lately, and I thought turquoise would be a perfect dominant color in the large expanse of sky. I built off of it for the other colors. I wanted to include fall foliage, since that is New England now. This is my color swatch.


Once I've tried some colors together and began to "see" where I was going, I did a 4" X 4" study--my color proof--to find out if the colors I've chosen will work together when they are larger shapes. In this study, the steeple roof seemed too bland. I adjusted to a copper top, in the end.





After the color proof, I draw an outline of the major objects with a light color pastel pencil onto Magnani Velata Handmade paper. It's 100% cotton, a lovely surface to work on, holds pastel well. A tip from the Canadian artist Brittani Faulkes (BrittaniFaulkes.com) is to work from top to bottom to avoid dust contamination on the surface below. All the colors are brighter because of this. The image below shows part of my underdrawing, plus the turquoise sky--I hope it shows on all monitors as turquoise--and the early copper steeple color.



I'm happy with "Eyes Above" because the colors work, the piece is simple, the subtle message of what steeples were all about with God in heaven and all of that is implied. Most like to think something/one watches from above or beyond. Eyes Above is my attempt at a cheerful rendition of grace/compassion.

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Eyes Above, 16" X 20"
To purchase, contact jayshoup@gmail.com