Fractured Glass #3 on July 8: the shadow is the detail

From July 8 in the a.m. 

 to July 8 in the p.m.

Details.

Details.

Details.

I am painting the lines with Winsor Newton Winsor Violet (Dioxazine).

Fractured Glass 3: Painted outlines bring the triangles to life

Painting the outlines of each shape -- Step 4 for every nanoscape, is my last chance to make the shapes  as perfect as possible by making their corners meet and connecting them into their swoops and swirls.  I expect that it will take six days to finish outlining the 726 square inches of Fractured Glass 3. 

 

Here is a closeup that lets you see the difference between lined and unlined triangles.

July 4th Weekend Fractured Glass #3 Marathon Report #5

Huzzah!! All of the triangles have color. Every single one. Some are light; some are dark; but every single triangle in this 22x33-inch painting has color.

Today I will begin the 4th step in the Life of A Nanoscape: painting the outlines for each shape.  Line by line, shape by shape, triangle by triangle. 

The big decision in this step is selecting a color for those lines. In the earliest nanoscapes, I used Rapidograph pens and black India Ink to create the tiniest imaginable lines, but the outline effect was visible within just 10-inches of each painting.  I switched out first to Winsor Newton Sepia and then to Daniel Smith Sepia watercolor for the outlines, and then decided that those gray-ish-brown-ish tones weren't the most helpful for the nano designs.  Not that the sepias deadened the nanos, they just didn't enhance them.

Since then, I have used Daniel Smith's very dark greens, purples and blues.  Decision time today.

July 4th Weekend Fractured Glass #3 Marathon Report #4

Fractured Glass #3 has  hundreds, if not thousands of tiny spaces that I hope to finish painting today.

Fortunately, I have a deep and abiding fondness for triangles, a treasured memory of creating 100 Pythagorean Theorem problems in 9th grade geometry, and an ever-growing admiration for the people who cut tile and glass for mosaics and stained glass art.

Today (July 5) will be a busy day.

July 4th Weekend Fractured Glass #3 Marathon Report #3

12 hours later...the triangles are turning into roller coasters and energetic swirls...

July 4th Weekend Fractured Glass #3 Marathon Report #2

After 11 hours -- the shapes are definitely in motion...

Fractured Glass #3 is 22x33 inches, but while painting triangle after triangle, I lost the size and reveled in the tiny spaces.

July 4th Weekend Fractured Glass #3 Marathon Report #1

Welcome to my July 4th Weekend Painting Marathon!  The only way that Fractured Glass #3 can be finished in time for State Fair framing is for me to paint and paint and paint and paint.  What a great gig!

After nearly three weeks, I am well into nanoscape Step 3 -- adding color.  Just last night "Frac 3" crossed the threshold into the place in the paint/space continuum where the glass "pieces" began to show their potential for motion. 

Because I can paint and cook, too, I've also been able to begin to work on an interesting recipe for baked beans for the July 4th picnic (even Paint Marathoners have to celebrate.)