This is a brief documentation of the creation of my latest painting Critical Mass. This work depicts a floating planetary mass of cars. It is an allegory about rampant consumption and excess. The image is meant to be whimsical, and yet mildly disturbing.
My initial preparatory study (shown below) was executed with a cool color palette. I wanted to capture the feeling of cold steel glinting off this big sphere. However, as I began working on my full-sized painting, I chose to use a warm yellow, believing this could make the image more alluring.
Painting all the cars proved to be fun. The scintillating colors made it resemble a giant ball of candy. Creating the background, however, was more challenging. I wasn’t sure if I wanted it to be a solid color like my study, or something more atmospheric. To test this option, I photographed my painting and made a digital collage, adding a cloudy sky from a Thomas Moran painting.
I decided to have my planetoid of cars suspended within a hazy void of noxious air. This proved more difficult than I expected. I had to repaint the background at least four times before I arrived at something that looked mildly interesting. Below are some stages of this progression.
Admitedly the final painting didn’t turn out anything like what I had originally conceived. But I suppose this is what compels me to continue painting. I’m always pursuing that elusive goal of capturing the image I have in my head, but ultimately being surprised by the final result.
