It was summertime 2018, and I realized at the end of the year, I was
turning 40.
I was looking for a larger project than what I had been
working on since becomming a father in 2015. I also hadn't worked
with someone in my studio on a large scale, closer to life size.
So I decided to give myself a birthday present and make a
painting.
The beginning ideas came after finding a documentary online that I'd
been searching for for many years, about the process of Euan Uglow's
'Root Five Nude'. It's worth looking up.
Inspired, I wanted to begin with the same format to fit a reclining
nude onto, only a little smaller. 24x56.66". It always seems to be
as much work to make the support as paint the painting. Not true of
course, just the first steps of a long journey.
Who was this painting going to be of? A fifteen minute drawing I did
at hipbone studio turned out so well, that I thought to use that as
the basis of the painting. The model was interested in making that
happen, thankfully.
The Model and I worked through the pose from the sketch and a few other
ideas
, and settled on a different pose. One that made a stronger composition,
and easier for her to hold for 12+ hours.
Getting to work on the painting, I was surprised by how difficult it was
to work in this scale on my smallish studio. The piece is wider than my
arms length, so I couldn't just mark where my feet were on the ground
and stand still. I had to move around. I brought in some mirrors to check
proprtions. The model, being a great painter herself, also gave me a few pointers.
As I got further into laying out the painting, I realized I wasn't getting
her feet in there. From the start, my intention was to paint the full figure
Having the mirror in the room gave me the idea to prop it behind her, with
her toes looking back at the viewer, like Velazquez's Rokeby Venus, with a twist.
Happy with how this piece turned out. Not sure where to exhibit it yet,
I feel a nice momentum, and excited to see what's next.
