Some Paintings...

...are like jigsaw puzzles. They come together one section, or piece to the puzzle, at a time.


You can divide this into positive and negative shapes. Think of the positive space as the big shapes, or the large blades of grass.


These shapes are defined by the negative space around them, in this case the jumbles of smaller blades.


By painting the negative space then cleaning up the edges with a razor blade, the pieces (or big blades of grass) fit in neatly.


Oh, and I case I forgot to mention, these three paintings are all mounted on a neat box made of discarded pieces of the gallery's floor, from when it was refinished years ago.


-jb.

I Left This For Last...

...because I thought it would be the easiest of the series of studies. I have to learn to replace "easiest" with "least really frigging difficult" because nothing is ever easy.


I also remember that this reference photo was a pain to get.


Because of the vagaries of the moon and tidal strength, three afternoons in a row I was standing out in the marsh, looking at water that would would not come in far enough.


But once I figured out the reflections, the painting came together like a jigsaw puzzle, using negative shapes to define the things to be painted.


But you will notice that while the snails reflections were painted, the snails themselves were not.


This is because the reflections have a fuzzy edge to them, while the snails themselves must be crisp and sharp, so I let the paint dry first to get a sharp edge (then forgot to photograph the result).

-jb.