Friday, February 25, 2011

grisaille, feeling and value

6x6 oil on board
I have been looking at paintings I admire and reducing them to black and white. Value. The beauty of these paintings, absent of colors is shocking. All the feeling and space carries without effort. 
Here is a grisaille done on a small board. Maybe a week of some small works is what the doctor ordered. (for now;-)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Loriann, Small is good! Love the gesso brush marks (or the wood grain) showing through in this one...it will show up through to the end and act a little like the tooth of pastel paper.
Were these your own paintings or famous paintings which you reduced to black and white?
It's all about getting the right value of light against dark, light patterns etc...isn't it? I 'm always amazed when I read other artists saying stuff like 'you need to put the dark in to make the light pop'.....and think well, of course!....but how often do we forget this when caught up in the exuberance of painting or colour....especially when painting from memory and not life? I think that is the premiss of Notan using value markers, especially when you have just the white of the paper, a darkest dark and a mid-tone grey....you are forced to make decisions based on light and the composition will either work or not fairly immediately.
On another note, do you think you will be well enough to go to Philly for the Inness exhibit?

loriann signori said...

Hi Maggie,
The paintings I reduced to B&W were paintings from others in the past, people like Inness. Amazing.
I agree with you 100% about the use of a notan.They are especially helpful for the plein air painter when the light changes so quickly you have the notan to guide you and not get pulled astray.
As far as the Inness show..I am hoping to be well enough sometime in late March. I can't wait. It is something to look forward to!
cheers!

Double "D" said...

Hi B,
Glad you're going with the small size for a while. I really like the pale gold and blue. I'll bet you're happy to have Paul home with you. Happy for you both.

pb