The Hanged Man

The White Lodge Gallery held their annual Black x-mas show. This instalment Horror #4 show was this past week-end.  I created something to auction off, here are the steps.

Jim dropped off this slab of MDF to me to create an art work for the exhibition.

I gave it a good coating of black gesso to create a ground for painting.

I painted this reclining skeleton and attached his legs to a tree trunk. I rubbed in a bit of black on the bones to help create a little bit of texture.

I then painted in the background with copper paint. Ooooh shiny!

I then poured ammonia to patina the copper surface.

I then clear coated the piece to protect the surface and added in a bit of interference pigment to give it a bit more sparkle. After it dried I sanded the surface a bit.

I went in with black line and some white to put in some tarot card inspiration.

I went in with more black to help pop out the skeleton and gave it a textured clear coat on the surface.

And here it is hung for display at the gallery. I liked how it looks up side down. :D

Versus show preliminary stages

So here is some of the work I have done on the collaborative piece for the upcoming versus show.

After re surfacing the canvas and applying black gesso ground, I used a graphite pencil to draw in the initial loose plan for the piece. It is based on a ballistic dummy from an episode of World's deadliest Warrior on the moment of impact. To the left, in gold,  is the test swatch for the national stencil I made.

 On top of the line drawing I plotted in the position of the heart with paint on my scraggliest brushes. I am starting from the internal most level of organs and moving outward, at least that is my initial plan. I scraped the paint level away with an old card before it dried.

 I blocked in the skull and lungs and some of the other details before I start blocking in the body masses. I like how it is floating and the lungs are just barely a hint. The majority of the guide drawing is covered now and I am feeling like a bit of Francis Bacon influence is coming over me, I scrape again.

 I carve in the rib cage with a thick and dirty white paint. I allow dark reds to cut the edge then drip down over the body mass. I block in in varied flesh tones the structure of the body to give it some shape. I decided to make some changes and also put in some contrasting stripes to represent the background. I allow the heart to hide in the structure but it is still there.

Some parts seem to have too much ambiguity while others a little too carved out. I intend on putting the jaw back in and splattering some gruesome splatters and bold strokes, but this is just the beginning!