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everything.InthethirdsittingIinalizedthe
painted sketch ( 2 ). hings were looking up.
Transfer of Sketch
I was ready to transfer my composition onto
thefull-sizedcanvas,whichIdidusinga
grid. I wanted the composition to be oriented
vertically to accommodate Yael’s standing ig-
ure, her head at the apex of a Degas triangle.
DrawingmygridforthesketchwithaSharpie
on acetate allowed me to play with the inal
composition by shifting it up and down over
the painted sketch.
When I was happy with my choice, I
marked out a corresponding grid on the large
canvas and transferred the design with char-
coal ( 3 ). A transferred design is always a little
shocking because any distortions in the sketch
become obvious at the enlarged scale, but I
knew I would be able to rei ne and change the
i gures when the family returned. Referring
to my painted sketch, I applied color over my
charcoal drawing. I thought of the color as a
series of provisional choices ( 4 ).
Mixtures and Measurements
h e family posed as a group for several more
sittings, which enabled me to work out their
places in space and adjust their contours. I was
working aggressively with the paint at this
point. I started each painting day by making
mixtures cut with Cremnitz white of several
colors that I knew I would use: raw umber, raw
sienna, Venetian red, terre verte, dioxizine
violet and a neutral mixture of ultramarine
blue and cadmium orange. I would also create
a mixture consisting of my darkest colors—
ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson and phthalo
green. his mixture is literally darker than
black. If you have trouble believing this, try
mixing it yourself and then compare it to Mars
blackoutofthetube.hismixturecanbe
inluenced to favor any of its three components.
By the end of the i rst sitting with the large
canvas, most of the paint from the design trans-
fer had been covered. When I needed to make
changes to the shape and position of the i gures,
I did. I also introduced a series of comparative
measurements based on the children’s heads.
You can see my marks, digitally enhanced for
visibility, on the left edge of image 5.
h e stage set for the painting is mini-
mal, but the objects—chairs and rug—made
demands on where I would place the i gures.
h e rug was helpful in this respect because
mathematical constancies of the dimen-
sions and pattern helped me place the sitters’
feet. h e wheeled structure at the base of the
Mission chair had similar qualities.
Managing Attention Spans
A big part of the process of painting the por-
trait was keeping the subjects amused as they
posed. h e family would bring a movie to
34
ABOVE LEFT: 3.(February 21)Compositional draw-ing transferred tofull-sized canvasABOVE RIGHT:- (February 22)
Provisional-colorblock-in