I thought I'd try another candle but fill the background in this time to give it a darker feel. I think that I need a lot of time working with this kind of subject to get it the way I really want it to look. If any of you know Joseph Wright of Derby's candle/fire paintings you'll know what I mean ;-) I had loads of fun painting the very bottom of the candlestick but the background was a nervy time for me and I kept putting it off (so I left it until the very last ;-).
I did something I don't usually do with this one too: I cropped the books. I wanted to do this one in portrait aspect and not landscape so that the candle would be bigger and if I had included all the books the candle would have been too small and insignificant.
When you click the image you will see that I left the photobigger than life size for a change so those of you who revel in getting up close and personal can see it warts and all ;-) This one has gone to the Elliot Foutts Gallery in Sacramento. They are a big supporter of my work and they are great people too :-)
I like painting on these panels as they are very smooth and unbelievably light, they are also very cheap. I give them three coats of white gesso (sanded with very fine sandpaper between each coat) and then a final coat of Winsor & Newton Galleria gloss acrylic medium to make them less absorbent. I get the 3/16 inch thick panels. You can get them here (mentioning my name wouldn't hurt me ;-): windriverarts.com
This is quite a big one for me and I started it many months ago but gave up on it, and then I started experimenting with different mediums so I thought it would be good to use this failure as a test (so as not to ruin a new one if the experiment went disastrously wrong). I think I managed to save it so I'm glad I didn't paint over it or use it as a cutting board (as has happened with other dubious offerings).
I'll be mentioning more about mediums from James Cosgrove in the next post when I hope to have a new candle painting completed exclusively with a new mix I am using incorporating some of his fine products.
I finished all the paintings for the Tallantyre Gallery in the UK so I hope to be posting some new work soon that will be available for sale - when I get around to doing some more photos. This one may or may not be going to the Mason Murer Gallery in Atlanta as I have a lemon painting going to them for a show in April and may send this along for company ;-)
12 x 9 inches, oil on Gatorfoam panel
