GALLERIES —

SEX © 1994 Keith Halonen    oil on panel    72×36 in / 184×92 cm    $ 28,000 US

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I indulge in the occasional departure from the strictures of Hypermodern Realism. This is substantial departure. The passion of the couple's union is represented in a fiery explosion, like a match head igniting under the amplified solar heat of a magnifying lens.      I had been working for several years on extremely demanding interior perspectives, and I needed a break. I decided to do something unlike anything else I had ever done. I had also been entertaining the idea of creating a "color challenge" for myself. I wanted to do something dramatic in a very limited range of colors, using the primaries almost exclusively if possible.      A principal goal of the project would be to leave the greatest proportion of artistic latitude for the painting phase. Most of the elements in my paintings are carefully plotted down to mid-level details and transferred to my panels as pale pencil outlines. I intended to create this painting mostly during the brushwork phase and so I pencilled in only the barest minimum outline sketch before applying the first layer of glaze color.

Detail from SEX

It was a refreshing change to apply paint alla prima. Normally I would be creating subtle color tones by several consecutive layers of nearly transparent glaze. I did not rigidly adhere to my original plan of using only the primary colors. I added a lavendar straight from the tube to the blues.      Although this artwork doesn't fit well with the more realistic entries in my portfolio, it is as much my expression as any of the others. I'm sure viewers will understand the notion of breaking away from the norm, if even for just a brief moment's respite.

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