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6 - FINISHING
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I ignored the painting for a few days and then gave it a final once-over to satisfy myself that any further fuss would truly be going too far. Finally, I title, date, and sign my painting. Below left, you can still see the traces of the original binoculars logo just after I switched to my own fictitious brand names. At right, my discreet camouflage signature won't disrupt the flow of the design. |
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The finished painting... |
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DISTANCE
© 2004 Keith Halonen oil on panel 36¼×22½ in / 92×57 cm THIS PAINTING IS A GOLDEN RECTANGLE |
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Wait a minute! It's not really finished, is it? Oil paint must be allowed considerable time to thoroughly dry. I am fortunate in that my method lends itself to relatively rapid drying. Most of the painting consists of just two or three exceptionally fine layers of color and most of the light coming off the painting is still bouncing off the brilliant white undercoat! These layers will dry thoroughly in just a few weeks but here and there are some modest flecks and ridges of thicker highlight or shadow. These oilier deposits are uppermost in the layering sequence but they are expected to dry completely within 60 days. I will allow the painting three months to completely set, at which time I will give it its final transparent matte finish to seal it off from external humidity and airborne pollutants. Once the final sealing coat dries, the painting really is finished and ready for the print lab, framing, and public display. |
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| It should be noted that not all of my paintings evolve in the way that this one did. They all go through a similar sequence of steps during the physical production phases but the initial creative inspiration differs from one to the next. Many ideas spontaneously arise as I contemplate potential painting subjects. Though most involve some production photography, they usually don't begin with an aging photograph, as in the case of this example. My practice is to establish a theme and then exploit that concept over a series of paintings until I tire of exploring the idea. My work is handily divided into the categorical galleries represented by links at the top and bottom of each page in my website. |
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Finally, a little treat created from the eleven full-image photographs that comprise the large illustrations in this article. This animated GIF is a 1½-Megabyte file. If you can't see it yet, your broadband is woefully slow and you may be twiddling your thumbs for however long it takes to download and start displaying the animation. I'm going to grind some beans and fix myself a cup of shade-grown organic coffee. Those with DSL or cable modem are already being hypnotized by the clock-sweep transitions that segway from one image to the next. "You are under my power..."
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I hope you have enjoyed this in-depth essay on the step-by-step creation of one of my paintings. If you have found these pages informative, enlightening, or entertaining, then something positive has occurred. Please feel free to click on any mailto on these pages and let me know what you think. |
Thank you for your appreciation of my art.
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6 - FINISHING
TOUCHES |
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