Build WORKSHOP
STEP 2
Working from sketches and memory, I made small rapid oil
studies to test color combinations I thought might comprise the
deep sky and lake colors. The greenish orange of the moon glow
and its reflection on the lake was a struggle to replicate, but
these tests helped me rule out obvious color detours.STEP 1
Once the full moon arrived, I made pencil sketches on the
balcony. I noted the relative values of the sky, water and
reflections, and also jotted down colors I perceived so that
I could mix them in daylight. The following evening, I took
photos to catch the lunar reflection in the water, but these
images were less enchanting than the scene viewed in person.STEP 3
After making a few compositional pencil sketches, I decided
to add a figure and had a model pose for sketches and
photos. I swapped out a sleeping pose in favor of a supine
figure gazing upward. Using notes and photos, I made
a small oil study and considered how dark the picture should
be. Many painters of nocturnes add either the moon or
an artificial light source to throw the forms into dramatic
relief and allow for stronger colors within the dark scheme.
I considered adding candles but decided against it.STEP 4
For my surface, I sized a panel with rabbit-skin glue. The
square surface is a nod to van Gogh, who painted The Starry
Night (page 27) while residing in an asylum. In a letter to his
brother Theo, he described the view from his cell as
a “square of wheat” seen “[t]hrough the iron-barred window.”
I drew my arrangement, including the fi gure, building and
guitar, on tracing paper and then transferred the drawing to
the panel with blue Saral transfer paper. Using blue colored
pencil, I refi ned the perspective and guitar shape.28 Artists Magazine January/February 2020