KIEFERART FINE ART UP CLOSE

kieferart
FINE ART UP CLOSE

"Well Read and Pink All Over"
Oil on canvas, 26" x 28"

$650 (US customers only) PURCHASE INFO

I was freshly inspired by the work of Richard Schmid when I painted this. Normally, I finish the background to the edge, but there was so much information just within the figure, that I didn't want to diffuse the focus. Schmid, an illustrator in the earliest part of his career, carried some graphic elements into his fine art later in life. Often he would end a painting, even a painting of great detail, with a flourish of very thin paint (mixed with mineral spirits). Very broad, wet, sometimes runny brushstrokes in contrast to beautifully-crafted figure work added an element of emotion or grace to his work as well as enveloping his main points of interest. I decided to try that here.

The greatest challenge with this piece, though, was in the shadows. I was painting from life in a sort of overwhelming situation: a crowded, noisy street celebration in Mora, MN. The sun was blazing down on my model which created very "close" values (the lit areas were very "high key", not much light variation in receding contours). The shadowed areas were receiving a lot of reflected light from the street, ambient sky light and everything else around us. The method I use employs "warm" and "cool" colors to define what's receding from what is coming forward. I actually had to talk myself through this one as I finished it up in the studio. I grew exponentially with these challenges.

BACK TO MORE PAINTINGS

HOME

INTRODUCTION

FINE ART GALLERY

PORTRAIT GALLERY

COMMISSION INFO & PRICING

CARDS/WRITING

LESSONS

KIEFER