04 - Under and Final Painting - Recipe for delicious 'Lines from the 'Verse'

Underpainting

~This step is like making lasagne, lots of different layers~

On a low heat add color and bring to a simmer. Harvest and prep reference for 'organic' lighting, refreshing details, and scrumptious textures. Bring to a boil on medium heat and add final references.

(~5-10 hrs)

Take your Base/Value Study and bring it over to the render oven if you haven't already.

Make sure you're at 300dpi

On a low heat (zoomed out) mix up some value appropriate and desaturated blues,
magentas, violets, and greens.
~boil noodles~

Raise the values a key or two and begin to lay down some fresh glazes for rich flavors.

Apply lovingly to maintain value pattern.

Add a cursory layer of vector line/sine waves on top.
These sine waves are raw and need some time to find their place.

Bring to simmer.

~build a tomato base for sauce~

Cooking the image down takes a minute. 

This is a good time to gather and prep your final round of references from your garden. 

Take your empty floor space, mobile light sources, digital camera, string, and extension cords and emulate: the pose, perspective, lighting and materials within the painting.

~prep some veggies for the tomato sauce~

By now the image should be ready for another few layers.

Download your newly created material and lighting ref into your reference silo,

and while you're in there dig around for desert sand texture and dispersal of stars in the night sky reference.

~mince some fresh herbs n spices like cilantro or basil for tomato base~

Prepare remaining reference.

Chop, peel, slice, dry out (overlay/screen), soak/glaze (multiply) or simply draw from as necessary 

Weave into existing layer hierarchy.

~lay down a layer of noodles and a layer of sauce and ricotta~

Bring to a boil. 

Bump up the heat to medium and start cookin'

Treat these layers the same as previous layers, working without falling into a render hole, and apply colors in values that support the flavor pattern.

~lay down another layer of noodles, sauce, and ricotta~

If flavors aren't harmonizing, add a cup of desaturated blue or violet.
(mulitply or overlay around 10-20%)

While everything is still a little bit in flux revisit the sine wave layers.

This is when you'll really be able to exploit the dichotomous nature of lines from the 'verse and bring out its surreal disposition.

~lay down another layer of noodles, sauce, and ricotta~

Massage the sine waves into place to best support the focal point and movement throughout the rest of the composition.

Add one more layer where you will weave the sine waves together within themselves as well as visually sew the sine waves into the forms they organically interact with in the composition.

~one final layer of noodles and just mozz, then broil for texture~

Final Painting

~This final step is a little like picking weeds out of the garden, or flossing your teeth~

After you've made the best design decisions, preheat the oven to medium high. Bake on middle shelf until image is solid and fluffy all the way through.

(~5-10 hrs)

Depending on how expeditiously or conservatively you've built your painting up to this point this final step may take a while, or it may not take very long at all.

Zoom in to 100%, higher around the focal point, and paint everything together correctly.

Lovingly move over the entire image.

~even behind your last molar~

Brush strokes are like loose change, it all adds up.

When finished, 

let sit out of sight for a few weeks to fully settle.

Enjoy at a later date with close friends. 

*Serve at room temperature with Cabernet Sauvignon and Erik Satie