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Step One
My support is Fredrix Knickerbocker cotton canvas that has a light grey oil wash to kick back the white. Once this is dry, I draw out Louis in vine charcoal to get the basic shapes.
For this piece my approach is to silhouette the figure in a warm brownish oil wash.
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Step Two
With a paper towel (Viva) I wipe off any excess paint until I have an even middle value.
My easel is a wall I built so I could pin up all my paint sketches, photo reference and canvas. The back part of the easel wall is a bookcase of all my reference books.
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Step Three
I'm blocking in my dark values. Whatever approach I take it's always important to establish a known value.
Also working from the focal point out keeps you in check with the most important principals of painting:
Drawing/Shapes
Values
Color temperature
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Step Four
With a little mineral spirits (Gamsol), I pull the paint off (alla Bernie Fuchs) to establish light shapes. This enables me to create a luminous light value with opaque colors.
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Step Five
With a steady hand on my maul stick I carefully place the light values hitting Louis's shirt. I have also laid in some warm tones on his face.
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Step Six
At this point the background needs to be addessed. Working from the head out I block in the cool blue value behind Louis's head so he starts to pop forward. I grey my background blue slightly so I can go in later with full strength blue.
The one thing to remember about color is you have two choices: warm and cool. If your color gets muddy, it’s because of improper color temperature.
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Step Seven
I continue the blocking in the background with a thin color.
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Step Eight
The catcher is pulled from the blue background working wet into wet.
The foreground is suggested as well as the grass line.
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Step Nine
With the background figures blocked in I go back to my focal point and lighten his shirt with cool colors.
I am paying particular attention to the edges and paint quality.
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Step Ten
I lay in a warm reflective light color under his arm. Reflective light will happen when it is adjacent to the main source of light.
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Step Eleven
I start to bring the background out, but am careful not to put too much detail in so I don't detract from the star of the show.
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Step Twelve
Abstract shapes of people start to emerge from the background. The bat and ball are painted with soft blurred edges to suggest motion.
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Finished! ?
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BookTalk with Bill Wise and Bill Farnsworth
