Waxing Gibbous: Painted January 13, 2010

Waxing Gibbous
Originally uploaded by diannna-art
Acrylic paint on 8x10 stretched canvas.
(From package of Titanium
acrylic gesso primed canvases)

I started an 8x10 today. The background started as a solid Ivory Black base. I chose this, over the Mars Black because the Ivory black makes me think of melted dark chocolate. Knowing my intention to create a moon, I wanted that warm sweetness of the Ivory Black that is borderline subliminal.

After waiting for the solid background to dry, I chose the placement of the moon by resting a plastic cover from a tube of potato chips on the canvas. (I was working on a table, not an easel.) Carefully I placed white directly on a toothbrush I use only for painting. Using the pad of one of my fingers, I made certain that the bristles were all covered. Then, I just remembered what I did in elementary school, creating the splatters with the toothbrush. Keeping the cover in place, I was able to avoid any splatter texture from landing where the moon would be later.

Some splatters created lines instead of dots. So I used more Ivory Black and made broad brushstrokes, covering sections of the stars. Once that dried, I repeated the splattering of white. This process of seeking perfection was repeated a few times until I felt the stars looked star-like enough.

When I removed the plastic cover from a tube of potato chips, from the canvas.. it left a dark untouched space. I mixed white and black to get shades of gray and began to color in the void. A hint of Raw Umber was added to a light gray to form the shadow along the one side of the moon.

I wanted a waxing moon. I love looking up in the sky and seeing the brightness of the moon and the hint of the part less illuminated (that is really easier to see during the day, but worth straining the eyes to see it at night)

On a piece of paper I painted a black rectangle. Letting it dry overnight, I will test out the idea of painting** night clouds. If it works out.. then this painting is not done yet. I will add some clouds to accompany the moon.

(**I later tested the clouds and opted to keep the painting as it was, thus calling it completed on January 13, 2010 and returning to mark it as such.)