denise cerro: Bringing It Into Focus...

Class two of 3 classes on using papers in paintings...

such a fun and amazing group of artists at Art On 30th!

As with our other pieces...

I got started with layers of paper collaged onto a solid grey background canvas.

As you can see from above, I didn't really have a plan for a face, more a figurative piece with the suggestion of a head and face...though the more I worked on it, I decided a face would work better. I found a face in a magazine that was proportionality prefect, with just the right pose, tore it out, glued it onto the shoulders, painted the face out and then in again, and changed the hair. I love her quiet, thoughtful expression.

At this point I was pretty happy with the figure and the general design...

albeit a little busy.

So I set it aside to let it simmer for a week or two,

then brought it into the classroom to finish up as a demo.

At this point I started to eliminate and let go of some of the background elements...

not everything can be important!

I went over the upper portion of the painting with a soft grey paint, working across the canvas, and then working down into more blue green tones on the bottom portion. My main purpose was to calm down some of the green background color, while keeping some of the green peeking through. It's hard to let things go, especially papers that you love! It's good to realize though, that often times its a much stronger painting if you can let go!

I also did one of my favorite things...painting around elements...in this case painting the background colors around all the circles, picking and choosing which would stay and which would get painted over as I progressed around the painting. This is very meditative for me.

Additional papers were added at this point to complete the composition. In this case I added three rows of threaded paper strips to the right hand side of the figure to open up the painting, and then color washed over them to integrate them into the painting.

I also felt it important to keep the figures face, but obscure it a little by washing over it...making it a little less prominent and a little more mysterious.

You may have noticed I added a large circle going off the bottom of the canvas. I wanted to keep some of the detail in that portion of the painting for interest, so I contained it into a circle and let go of the rest. I then went around to all of my large circles and used a Stabillo pencil to outline them and then rub and knock back some of the lines.

Also a favorite thing to do...scratch the surface up a bit. In this case bringing out the color of the figures skirt through the large circle I added over the skirt so the pink chunk of paper wouldn't be so dominant in the piece.

So here we are...beginning to end...this is my process of creating a figurative piece using papers and paint. I'm very happy with how this piece turned out and enjoyed the techniques used here...

I hope you do too and can find some of these techniques useful in your own paintings.