Artist's Comments on the Paintings
Large Nude: Sira
This large
painting was the first I made in my Lavapies studio. Sira, a professional actress and the cousin of an artist-friend
proved to be the best model I have worked with. My posing instructions were, “Sit here,” she did the rest, choosing
a pose similar to one she remembered from a Degas painting.
The painting
was made (as are the majority of my works) using the classical “sight-size”
drawing method, in which the canvas is set up immediately to the side of the
model in line with the picture plane and a midline is established, vertical measurements are transferred from the model to the support, and vertical measurements
are offset from the midline, giving a very accurate framework on which to
base the rest of the drawing.
Working
from a detailed grisaille, or underpainting, and layering up to fifteen
coats of transparent, translucent and opaque paint over it, the full range
of old master effects was employed to give the figure the illusion of form
in space and the transparency and opalescense of living skin.
Taking almost
six months to complete, working five hours per day for four or five days per
week, this painting represents the large amounts of time required to fully
articulate the old techniques.
As is the case with all of my works, great care was taken to ensure correct archival techniques were
followed throughout the process, painting “fat over lean,” using thin paint
layers, building up impasted areas slowly, and bleaching the canvas at intervals
in the sun to remove excess oil and ensure its clarity. The binder used in my paintings is pure walnut
oil which is washed three times before the paint is ground to ensure the longevity
and clarity of the paint film.
A copal
resin medium was employed which yellows much less than damar-based vehicles
and remains flexible, minimizing the possiblity of the paint film cracking
as time passes. The fabric is a heavy
linen cloth, sized with rabbit skin glue and primed with pure lead flake white,
the traditional support of the old masters.
This painting, if well-cared for, should last over five centuries with
virtually no changes in appearance.
The composition
was developed to break as many rules of compostion as possible by centering
the figure and then using the background to reframe it so the subject does
not look static.
¿Tienes Fuego?
The first
of a series of “pinups” I painted for the Glamourcon convention in 2004, this
painting was made to explore the techniques of the great Flemish master, Peter
Paul Rubens. In particular the use
of burnt umber, thinly applied to state the shadow areas and turning form
through the “turbid medium” effect in which the color temperature of passages
is altered using transparent scumbles and glazes. . . something which can
be readily observed in Rubens’s works.
The punning
name, which in Spanish means “Do you have fire?” or “Got a light?” uses the
fact the the “fire” to which the woman alludes is not needed for her already-lit
cigarette. In addition, the legs below
the knees are left unfinished, suggesting that the woman is no more than a
phantom, a figment of the viewer’s (or artist’s) libidous imagination.
After the
lenghty process required for the “Large Nude: Sira” painting, I was seeking
a way to get substantially the same effect in the skin with much less work. Of course having a simple background helps
a great deal. The total working time
for this painting was about five weeks.
La Novia de el Torrero
179.5cm x 96.5cm
Wanting
to do a painting with a bull-fighting theme, I had great luck in persuading
Nieves, a client of my wife, who actually is the girl-friend of a former matador,
to pose for me. Nieves is not only
an incredibly nice and generous woman, but is also an artist’s dream as a
model: beautiful, voluptous, serious, collaborative, and able to hold difficult
poses for long periods of time without tiring or moving. Usually we took breaks because I needed
to rest, not her.
This painting
attempted to explore
the impastoed effects of Rembrandt’s works, which is evident throughout the
canvas, but especially in the embroidery on the capote, or cape.
This cape, the capote de alternativa, which is used only when
the novice matador makes his official debut in the bullring as a “killer of
bulls,” alternating playing the bull with an older matador (hence the name
alternativa), is currently on display at the Museo de Taurina, in Colmenar
Viejo, Spain.
The composition
is based on a diagonal, beginning with the bullfight poster in the upper left,
crossing the nude figure to end in the folds of the capote. The theme of the painting is shown through
the proximity of the illustration of the matador in the poster, poised in the middle of a pass with the bull, and dangerously close to the arc of the its horns, to the head
(and hence the thoughts) of the his novia (girlfriend). She is holding the cape which enfolded her lover
as he took his first steps as a proftessional, and has her hand over her heart,
looking downward, worried whether he will return from the ring in the afternoon
alive, injured, or dead.
Venus Maxibusto:
A Study in Proportions
73cm x 92cm
A light-hearted
look at our culture’s obsession with the breast size of women, and how the
standard has changed over the past 2500 years. A bust (yes, it is a pun) of Venus, the “gold
standard” of classical beauty for thousands of years, is surrounded by angels
and cupids, signifying the enduring nature of her proportions. Pinned up (another pun) on the wall behind
her is an extreme example of the current ideal of large breasted feminine
beauty: this month’s contemporary Venus who will be replaced in just a lunar
cycle with another, equally short-reigned beauty.
Venus’s position would seem assured, but is
it? On the wall, her shadow, always
the symbolizer of unconscious desires and insecurities, is cast with surgically
augmented breasts. Perhaps the goddess
is contemplating a “boob job?” Another
layer of meaning is contained in the use of color and monochrome in the figures.
Venus and her retinue are in classical white, cold and aloof, but three-dimensional
-- while the pinup is in full four-color offset printing, but two dimensional. (Dare I say, “flat?”)
The technical
challenge of this painting was to reproduce the “Venitian Method,” which employed
a violet underpainting (evident in the putti hovering about Venus’s breasts),
and a limited palette, to gain an understanding of how to employ the technique.
Child’s Play: NRA Babies
64.5cm x 81cm
My reaction
to the Columbine High School shootings, and a general commentary on the racist
nature of much of U.S. culture, as well as a commentary on violent toys. The white baby on the right has just shot his
black classmate, who falls into the arms of his terrified schoolmates. Approaching his body are several “action figures”
which are bent on adding to the violence.
Technically
this painting was an exercise in old master’s glazing and scumbling techniques. Painted, as always, with a carefully developed
grisaille (in Turkey Umber) and a dead layer in earth colors (burnt sienna,
yellow ochre and white), followed by glazes of ultramarine blue, vermillion
(actually a scumble), and lead-tin yellow (another scumble), a favorite pigment of
the old masters).
Acclaimation of the Village Idiot
60cm x 81cm
During the
bruhaha leading up to the Extreme Court decision granting the presidential
race to Bush in 2000, there was a quatrain supposedly by Nostrademus which
said:
“Come the
millenium, month 12
“In the
home of greatest power
“The village
idiot will come forth
“To be acclaimed
the leader.”
Although
the quatrain is fake, the sentiment perfectly reflected my opinion of the
“elections” of 2000 (and 2004), so I decided to paint the scene. In the center, Bush, the “village idiot” is
being hoisted aloft by his supporters. His
septer ends in a dollar sign, which is about to be swallowed by the huge phantasm
behind it, representing his billionaire backers. In the left background, another phantasm is
using a pitchfork to unload dollars from the US Treasury, and on the right,
a church is joined to the Capitol building, representing the fusion of Church
and State.
The party
carrying the idiot is advancing through a field of flowers, leaving a desert
in their wake. In the forground a snake in the grass lurks and various unnatural monsters are included in the supporters, including
a two-headed man.
Zig-Zag
Calme, Luxe, Volupte
46cm x 65cm
When searching
for a new pose, I will often come up with several possible ideas.
These will be developed as small paintings (small for me) to allow
me to understand whether or not the pose works visually, if it will be too
uncomfortable for the model, to find areas of the painting which may give
me problems later on (for example, foreshortening of hands or feet), and to
allow me to think about how I wish to approach the underpainting (what color
to use, how heavy the darks should be, how to approach impastoed passages,
etc.).
Both these
monochrome paintings were done for this purpose, and were so strong that they
stand on thieir own. Zig-zag was developed
to experiment with a composition which, as the name says, “zig-zags,” taking
the eye of the viewer on a twisting turning path through the painting.
The legs of the figure appear a bit long due to a trick of perspective
from having been so close to the model in order to get a high viewpoint for
the painting, but add an interesting element.
Calme, Luxe,
Volupte takes it name from the famous quote of Matisse, who stated that paintings
should combine the qualities of calm, luxury and eroticism. I heartily agree, and this is the result.
I wanted an unusual vantage point so I stood at the head of the model.
The forms of her breasts, ribs, abdomen and pelvis were particularly
important to the success of the painting, while the triangles formed by her
legs and upraised arms anchor the composition and give it stability.
Unfortunately
my model (Sira, the model in Large Nude: Sira, moved shortly after
these paintings were finished, and I never got the chance to turn them into
full-sized works. Hopefully some day
this will come about.
Shunga I
161.5cm x 96.5cm
Along with
¿Tienes Fuego?, this painting was developed for the pin-up market. I wanted to push the erotic element, and had
an idea for using Tibetan thanka paintings to provide a rich, symbolic
and interesting backdrop for the figure.
Further consideration led me to use Japanese shunga prints instead
both for their in-your-face sexuality, humor and masterful use of pattern.
I also like the idea of incorporating art from other cultures into
my paintings.
Taking a
deep breath, and having the good fortune of a model who was happy to collaborate
with me, I posed her "wide open" in front of the erotic print, her
legs mirroring the woman's in the print. Although some would think painting a beautiful
woman in such an erotic pose would be arousing for the artist, the reality
is that the level of concentration and focus is so high that one scarcely
realizes the eroticism of the situation. Being able to find models who are this good-natured is one of the
great advantages to working in Europe, where attitudes towards sex and the
body are much more liberal than in the Americas.
Also a supportive and tolerant wife is essential!