I haven’t done anything like this for a while but have to say that this version sees a beautifully constructed and sympathetically painted canvas that’s full of all the good things.
190cm x 90cm (75″ x 35″)
Blue and gold are rapidly becoming my favourite colour combination. I’ve written extensively about their regal properties and opulent qualities.
It is, however, the inclusion of certain other colours that’s really opening up a world of infinite possibilities. With each colour I try I’m changing the behaviours and feel of a painting and I am eager to try as many combinations as I can. In this painting I have chosen a light aquamarine as the accent colour.
You can see in the photos that the painting works brilliantly in either portrait or landscape orientation. So it’s really a matter of choice as to whether you prefer the movements going from top to bottom or from one side to the other.
Turning our attention the black part for a moment you can see from the close-ups that this is a detailed and complex series of movements that’s peppered with tiny fragments of metallic gold.
This breaks into a graduated fade to grey and gold as you move your eyes along. The grey parts are incredibly important as they act as a mid-way point between black and blue (it’s actually a variation of aquamarine).
It can be important sometimes to have a couple of break points in a painting that stitch some of the extremes together; this often makes for a more seamless visual experience.
As we move ever forward we come to one of the most important elements and that’s the gold. It’s a trusted favourite of mine and contains a very fine (and very reflective) metallic flake.
This is the part of the painting that really stands out – especially if you can get a light source pointing at it. It’s not blingy or brash though; instead it’s bright but also subtle in the way it carries a deep lustre and tonal range.
It covers around a third of the canvas so getting it blended with its neighbours and achieving the right balance between light and dark is absolutely critical.
The painting is complete with the inclusion of a bright and cheerful aquamarine colour that’s essentially a mix of blue and green. It has a warm underbelly of tropical oceans with a few top notes of cool air and blue skies. It makes for a gentle and uplifting finale to a powerful and aspirational painting.
I’ve kept a basic line structure throughout but as you move closer you begin to see that the lines disappear and make way for all kinds of tiny rivers and valleys.
Like so many of my original artworks this is piece of blue and gold modern art can be enjoyed from the other side of the room or sat with your nose pressed up against the canvas!
