Thursday, February 16, 2012:  Happy Birthday  Jordan!!!

I was immediately struck by how strong this piece seemed to be becoming: the monochrome scheme gives it power and the elongated horizontal “picture plane” makes a powerful statement.     The challenge is to link, in some way, the multiple representational shapes (wolf, hands, monster, vines…) which are all beautifully rendered.

After some reflection on the overall composition, I thought that it needed a stronger top half of the picture.  Since I could not quite “turn it over”, as we do sometimes, to evaluate the design upside down, I took a picture with my camera.  I was able to look at that upside down.   It confirmed my suspicion that the top half seemed not to be anchored nor related strongly to the rest of the painting. 

As I began to think about a solution, I thought about a high horizon, as if the viewer is looking down (following the tracks of the person who was inspired by the “Cannes rooftops” motif). 

I then realized that adding a high horizon to this dreamlike composition reminded me very much of the island of Santorini, in Greece.  I went to the web and found some images that inspired me to include some geometric rooftops and stairways.  (for your information, see desktop file I created called “Santorini”). 

I traced a high horizon with a loose rendition of the opposite land mass that encompasses the border of the “Caldera” or the ancient volcano center that is said to be buried under the deep sea of the Cyclades.  The Island is unbelievably beautiful and very dramatic, as it rises out of huge elevations and dips of terrain of mixed rock and volcanic soil, the latter is largely black.  Its buildings and inhabitants are perched on the arbitrary ups and downs of the terrain and stairs RULE everywhere you go.  It is the perfect “workout” island!. 

But Santorini is also a mysterious island, standing  alone in its configuration among Greek isles and considered unique and “different”.  The latter possibly fueled  much of the historic  and religious lore that surrounds the island.  It is said to have been inhabited by and vampires who supposedly thrived there after being “banished” from cities.   One has to wonder if the large number of Santorini churches one sees is related to such beliefs. 

See if you think this is a fitting notion to inspire us towards the finish…

                        

On the technical side, the areas of the painting with powdered graphite lend themselves to absorb almost no other medium on top…since the gesso surface is saturated.  I found that working patiently with some charcoal/pastels would allow some darkening  but not enough to get the value needed.  I had some more success working with a bristle brush and water in smoothing out some areas that appeared almost “scratched” by the pastel or charcoal.  We also need some white of a kind that is “reversible” like white pastels (we have only 5-6 tiny pieces), white gouache or casein or even permanent white (or Chinese white) which is similar.  I will try to bring some next time.  Our alternative is to do gesso, but I did not want to start using an acrylic on this surface.  But you are welcome to differ and do otherwise, the most important thing is that it was fun!

Thanks very much to Jordan and all of you!

Mariana Kastrinakis