  Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4100 Registered: 10-2003 |
For the September 22 "Intersections" exhibition at the Work: Detroit gallery, click here for announcement thread, I am doing a 'possiblist' painting of a structure in the neighborhood. [The theme 'Intersections' is based on the challenge of the inaugural exhibition where the participating artists were invited to relate their work to the Woodward / Martin Luther King intersection neighborhood.] Contest: Whoever first correctly identifies the site I am using will win a small signed artwork. Good luck. So here is the first hint. The painting will be titled "Open House" and painted in the primary color micropointillist technique developed by my good friend Stephen Goodfellow and me. [And as usual, I am racing like the dickens to get it finished]. Only the three primary colors, shown here, of yellow, red, blue are used to create all the colors. In the background you see a section of the painting in the "yellow" phase. The dark parts you see is a masking solution that will be soon washed away to reveal shades of yellow.  | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1791 Registered: 05-2005 |
the albert kahn house on erskine, aka ol slumpy sounds like a great show, i look forward to checking it out (Message edited by gravitymachine on September 05, 2007) | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4101 Registered: 10-2003 |
Halfway point is getting the drawing sketched in. Yellow phase painting can begin.  Areas where no yellow is wanted are masked out with a liquid masking solution - water soluble silk screen block out in this case. After masking the entire painting is evenly sprayed with yellow acrylic paint - I like cadium yellow. Spraying reduces the paint to tiny dots of color called micropoints. When yellow, red and blue micropoints are combined in varying balances, the eye will mix them to create the full spectrum of colors. This is the concept of Pointillism taken to the microscopic level.  Masking and spraying occurs several times, each mask 'freezing' a shade of yellow. This is 'backward' painting, you brush where you ~don't~ want paint.  Yellow phase masking and painting is complete. Time to lug it outside and remove the mask by hosing down the painting [called "splashdown"].  Now the painting is in shade of yellow plus the default white.  On to the red phase where the masking and spray painting procedure will repeated. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 9990 Registered: 12-2003 |
Wow, didn't take long, Gravity. Cheers!  | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4102 Registered: 10-2003 |
^ "Open House" ^ Aw you guys take all the fun out of running a contest!  | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 9992 Registered: 12-2003 |
I didn't. I just proved he won it in two minutes. Flat. | ||
3rdworldcity Member Username: 3rdworldcity Post Number: 905 Registered: 01-2005 |
This proves there are very knowledgable folks on this site, not to mention talented ones like Lowell. | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 1879 Registered: 01-2004 |
Slumpty Dumpty ! | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1794 Registered: 05-2005 |
sorry for taking the fun out of it, guess i was just at the right place at the right time | ||
Barnesfoto Member Username: Barnesfoto Post Number: 4116 Registered: 10-2003 |
damn, too late. Oh well, isn't batson the real winner? | ||
Spitty Member Username: Spitty Post Number: 603 Registered: 07-2004 |
So there's yellow and white, but why is there still some black on that last one? What is the black part going to be? | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4103 Registered: 10-2003 |
The dark areas, actually a deep dark blue, are just an enhancement of the drawing. Those areas are going to be deep dark in the end [dark yellow + dark red + dark blue] so it doesn't matter to draw in them. As the paint builds, the original drawing lines get obscured, so enhancing areas that are going to be dark is a way of keeping things in place. | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4108 Registered: 10-2003 |
The first mask and spray of red is completed. The thought process is "Where don't I want red?" or later "Where don't I want any more red". The painting will be a damp summer night painting so the lit windows and reflective streets get the first masks to preserve some of the pure yellows.  This phase can be challenging - when to mask is always the decision to be faced. Too much red can mean the difference between brown and gray, olive green and forest green, etc. The red I am using is Accra Red, technical name Quinacridone Violet, a rich beety - magenta red which keeps the colors from getting to hot, but helps create a rich range of tertiary colors.  | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4109 Registered: 10-2003 |
Redder and redder she goes.  This is the most extensive masking in the red, taking over four hours to complete. The micropointillist technique make filling large areas simple and quick but creating small areas like lines takes a lot of time to isolate them. We're almost ready for the second splashdown.  | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4114 Registered: 10-2003 |
The final spray of red leaves the painting as a murky red-purple jumble. The trick is to get the final reds as deep as needed with out going too deep. It is better to err on the side of not too dark as more red can be slipped in during the blue phase if needed, but it is best to get it just right. The painting is ready for the next splashdown.  With the red masks hosed off and dissolved away the image is very distinct. The painting is now in shades of yellows, reds and combinations of both plus the default white. White is essentially a hole in the painting. The balance of red is pretty much where it needs to be.  The sky and its reflection is very light. In this case it is easier to do those areas in a separate masking where where all three primary colors will be used together to create misty night sky where the city lights illuminate the upper clouds. We'll do that now. | ||
Jazzstage Member Username: Jazzstage Post Number: 95 Registered: 08-2007 |
Wow! Thanks for letting us in on "the process". I wish the original home was as beautiful as this painting. Thanks for sharing. | ||
Karl_jr Member Username: Karl_jr Post Number: 77 Registered: 06-2007 |
It was.... at one time Nice. | ||
Flybydon Member Username: Flybydon Post Number: 169 Registered: 01-2005 |
Outstanding! | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2472 Registered: 10-2003 |
Beautiful!! Can't wait to see this piece in person!!! | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4140 Registered: 10-2003 |
The sky and its reflection is isolated by masking the remainder...  Then painted using all three primary colors together. With the mask dissolved it appears but is difficult to see with the glare of red and yellow. It will make more sense when the painting is finished.  Masking and spraying of Blue now begins. From now on the painting will appear to progressively become a purple green mess from which will be born the full color painting. The blue I use Phthalocyanine Blue , preferred for its relative transparency and permanence. The picture below is after the second layer of blue. Most of the detail work is done now and the painting will move quickly toward the final splashdown.  | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 1912 Registered: 01-2004 |
Those bushes are already popping, you are a CRAZY man ! At the very least, an insanely patient man. bravo | ||
Smogboy Member Username: Smogboy Post Number: 5916 Registered: 11-2004 |
What struck a cord with me was seeing the people in the doorway. I can just imagine what that house must've been like back in its glory when it was warm and inviting. Just little simplistic little icons like seeing the people in the doorway and an indication of the people mingling in the windows imparts a human connection to it as opposed to it just being an architectural rendering. Beautiful piece! | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 1913 Registered: 01-2004 |
Time lapse anybody ?  | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4143 Registered: 10-2003 |
Down and down we go, following blue spray 3. All the hot colors are masked out now. The subtle dark colors of the house and street that will give the painting its body are being defined from now forward. Too much blue and they will all look alike, too little and they will be weak. The purple-colored masking solution and with paint atop it makes it difficult to see the actual color of the unmasked areas. A sheet of white paper needs be to held next to the painting to guage the depth and brightness of those colors and know when they need to be frozen in place by masking. The full spectrum of colors is now being created, but will not be seen until the final splashdown.  | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4148 Registered: 10-2003 |
Following the succession of masking and spraying blue, the painting is transformed into a dark blue-purple mess. Hidden beneath it are hundreds of colors created from the three primary colors. Time for the final Splashdown.  Voila. Twenty minutes under the hose and painting in its full spectrum of colors appear for the first time in all their brilliance. The painting is born.  A zoom in on an area near the doorway reveals some of the tiny dots of primary colors that are tricking the eye into seeing the full spectrum.  | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4152 Registered: 10-2003 |
New- Livingstone House aka "Slumpy" has been Demolished Demolition Pictures on dETROITfUNK.com | ||
Romanized Member Username: Romanized Post Number: 247 Registered: 02-2005 |
Awesome. Can't help complimenting your talent. | ||
Peachlaser Member Username: Peachlaser Post Number: 120 Registered: 08-2006 |
Amazing Lowell! Nice work. Can't believe how many steps you go through in this process. Impressive! A bit off topic, but I have been following the progress of Gary Lucy, a St. Louis artist, for the past two years. He has created a large mural celebrating the river boats and the Mississippi River and has just completed it. Just like Lowell who has shared with us the many steps in the process, Lucy has created a website showing his techniques and the progress. http://www.garylucy.com/captai nslog/semomuraljorunal.html | ||
Broken_main Member Username: Broken_main Post Number: 1318 Registered: 06-2005 |
That is amazing work Lowell!!! Thank you so much for sharing the process with us. | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4157 Registered: 10-2003 |
Thank you all for the kind remarks. I hope you are able to swing by the opening on Saturday night from 6 - 9 PM at the new Work: Detroit Gallery located at 3663 Woodward [The former Duet Restaurant space on the northwest corner of Woodward & Martin Luther King in the UM Detroit Center].  The work will be on exhibition in the "Intersection" show featuring artists' responses to the intersection of the new gallery. The show closes Nov. 2, 2007 Notes on "Open House" quote: | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2485 Registered: 10-2003 |
Bump...this sounds like a terrific event... Here's the link to the Metro Times coverage of this new gallery: http://www.metrotimes.com/edit orial/story.asp?id=11815 Was hoping to attend tonight, but may not be able to make it out due to family car issues. Hope it is a super opening night! Have fun, Lowell!! | ||
Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 546 Registered: 04-2006 |
my sister, Emily Linn, has a piece in there! check it out (after looking at Lowell's of course) | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2494 Registered: 10-2003 |
So...how was the opening night reception? Anybody go? | ||
Cris Member Username: Cris Post Number: 468 Registered: 10-2003 |
That is so cool. Thanks for sharing all the steps with us. | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2498 Registered: 10-2003 |
http://detroitarts.blogspot.co m/2007/09/intersection-workdet roit.html | ||
Esteban Member Username: Esteban Post Number: 69 Registered: 10-2003 |
Looks Great! | ||
Geo_t Member Username: Geo_t Post Number: 1 Registered: 09-2007 |
This thread reminds me of a demonstration that Lowell gave some years back at his studio, showing how the whole process works. It was fascinating then and it's fascinating now. Lowell, I'd be happy to trade wine for a print of "Slumpy Lives..." };^)> | ||
Swtlorrain66 Member Username: Swtlorrain66 Post Number: 19 Registered: 03-2008 |
Lowell..your paintings are SO COOOOOL! But, I like the one in (chat4148), with the color below your blue pic of "Slumpy"..lol. "Houses breathe and houses moan.. It's like they're listening to our thoughts." Any good HAUNTED places?? my friend and I are really into ghosts! I live in a haunted apt, as well. |
