Dark Towers
2010
22"x 25"
SOLD
The Black Tower is a deviation from typical reverse glass painting technique. Primarily, it involves multiple layers of glass. This afforded me with four surfaces to paint on. There is the front facing layer on which is painted the tower itself and the building images around it. This is a standard painting process, ie on the viewing surface. The paint is opaque with stripped portions to allow the surfaces underneath to reveal themselves. Then there is the opposite surface which is the true reverse glass technique. Here I added the lights, the underlying colours of the tower and a thin layering of purple and blue around the lower portions of the painting.
On the surface of the second sheet of glass, I added the reds leaving an opening for the moon image. On the back side of this layer, I added the moon image and a vigorous cross hatching of white on a thin layer of translucent yellow.
The end effect is the physical illusion of depth created by the different layers of the glass and the thickness of the glass counter acting the optical depth of the colours with cold colours receding and warm colours advancing.
Originally, the imagery was inspired by some snags in the forests around my home but they morphed into towers once I started working with the subsequent layers. Having lived in New York for about a year, as I continued to work on the piece the comparison between the dead trees and the dark ghostly towers worked itself into the theme of the painting.
On the surface of the second sheet of glass, I added the reds leaving an opening for the moon image. On the back side of this layer, I added the moon image and a vigorous cross hatching of white on a thin layer of translucent yellow.
The end effect is the physical illusion of depth created by the different layers of the glass and the thickness of the glass counter acting the optical depth of the colours with cold colours receding and warm colours advancing.
Originally, the imagery was inspired by some snags in the forests around my home but they morphed into towers once I started working with the subsequent layers. Having lived in New York for about a year, as I continued to work on the piece the comparison between the dead trees and the dark ghostly towers worked itself into the theme of the painting.