Sky Blue Pink

Sky Blue Pink

Sky Blue Pink 36x36 oil on canvas

I thought this was the last one. It was to be large (end with a splash!). It was my last frame that I had purchased for the show. And the image was clearly an ending one, with a beautiful break in a cloudy rough dark sky beckoning Mom. The title was to be “Welcome Break” But as usual, Mom had other ideas and she let me know. All went along as normal with the painting. I started with just what I wanted, then got mired in the difficulties as the piece progresses. There’s something called the “chaos theory” that applies to painting and this was no exception. I was trapped in the clouds and they just wouldn’t work. So I took the photo to a black and white on my computer to see the value patterns better. Next to it was a photo I hadn’t noticed before of the same spot. What? The sky is lighter in this one? It glows! And the clouds are reflecting in the water! So I pushed it further and made all the colors brighter and took it back to the studio where I started putting whites on with a big brush and adjusting many grays to be more blue and purple. Then I got to the water, which was thinly painted over an orangish under-painting. I noticed that area looks like an expression Mom used to say “sky blue pink with orange stripes”, a color I could never visualize. As I painted the reflections in, I heard in my head: “sky blue pink with orange stripes” “sky blue pink with orange stripes” over and over until I was done and stepped back. Whoa! The sense of doom and gloom was gone and a sense of joy was apparent. Its like Mom said: Make it pretty, because I am not going anywhere so I want to enjoy it. You still have painting to do. And so I do. I already have 4 paintings in my head. There will be more chapters to this story.