Adding Some Color, Focused Love

In my last post about this work, I had yet to add color to the underpainting. I have since washed in multiple layers; first to separate the pillar from the background, then to develop and combine the elements back together.

Adding color to a brown underpainting is dramatic. Starting with the sky and ground, I glazed in some cobalt and turquoise blues. The washes cover a large area early in the process, as all the background elements share the same base color. After glazing the pillar itself, I washed in some reds near the base to give the impression of reflected light. The green tint in the turquoise blue sets out the winding pillar. The next series of washes will bring these elements closer together.


The first washes of color.

By reducing the transparency of the glazes, I can limit the amount of light that passes through. This reduction in reflected light makes effective shadows. I added some of the burnt umber from the underpainting into some deep red glaze to add shadows to the pillar. This part of the process makes the texture really stand out, as some of the color falls deeper into the valleys.


Shadows bring out the detail.

As I add more layers of color, the shadows will be revisited to keep the overall contrast appropriate. Next on the table is the process of detailed washes to tie together what I just pulled apart.


Back in Focus:
Doug McHone at CoffeeSwirls brought up an interesting point this week about the greatest commandment, love. We are asked to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength; we are also asked to love others as ourselves. What happens when our focus is on loving others before God? He continues the discussion here, with the thought:

If your love doesn’t originate with God, you then love with a fallible human love, which is based on subjectiveness and benefit.

William Meisheid responds to this at Beyond the Rim taking a focus on the difference between agape (self-sacrifice) and philios (brotherly) love. Although I appreciate his use of my comment as a starting point, he has really done a much better job of exploring this issue. From his post:

If I am correct in my understanding of this issue then the only way we can properly love anyone or anything else is when we first deal with, commit to, and nurture our love of God.

Do I love God first? If want to be able to love with His self-sacrificing love, I need to.