A Commissioned Painting from Autumn/Winter 1996

Again, this is a painting that has not been shown to anyone by myself since the day I delivered it to the client, in December 1996.  Partly because it IS a commission, and isn't really in the canon of my usual subject matter, it may be of little interest to the general public but there are enough noteworthy points of interest on this project.

Here's the full painting, be sure to click on it to get a better look:

And this is a close-up of the detail in the doorway (again, click for a closer look).

A little backstory/setup, first:

Client: Gloria B., the owner of BB Dakota, a women's fashion company, based at the time in Laguna Beach, around the corner from my studio/gallery. I was introduced to Gloria through a close friend working there at the time. 

The Commission:  A large scale painting of the front of the BB Dakota Building. We decided that an evening shot would be a much more dynamic presentation (they usually always are!) of the subject matter. 

Technical specs:   

Five feet tall by Seven feet wide.  If memory serves me well, this is the largest painting I've done on a stretched canvas (I've done murals almost 3 times this size) 

Acrylic on gessoed linen canvas. I clearly recall buying the canvas from Sterling Art, a major art supply store in Orange County that recently went out of business. I clearly recall choosing the more expensive linen with a gessoed primer coating, and I VERY clearly recall the person that was helping me, folding the canvas instead of rolling it, causing some of the gesso to chip away in a few of the folds, requiring me to repair it once it was stretched. (Grrr...)  I built the stretcher frame from redwood 2x2's. 

Factoids and Observations: The orange cast in the painting is meant to simulate the look of the orange-ish street lights at night-time....which, by the way, is a look that I generally do NOT like. Having been raised in a world where street lights were bluish in cast, the modern orange lights just don't resonate well with me, or the world I try to depict in paintings, but there are times that I do use them. Generally speaking, though, I try to correct that.

The building dated to early 1900's, with an obvious Spanish style to it. I was told that at one point it was a post office, then a Jewish Community Center, before Gloria bought it for BB Dakota....the interior was all open loft style. The green cast from inside the building in the window on the right is from a huge curving room divider wall, designed by a New York architect, if I recall. The wall was framed in 2x4's and sheathed in plexiglass, painted green on one side and decorated with sewing symbols on it. Its place in the building, just inside the front entrance, created a reception area/lobby that was very awe-inspiring. The door was an antique, bought in Mexico and imported. The sign utilized an ox's yoke, and Ocotillo and horsetail plants in front added to the stark, individual look of the place.  I loved visiting there! Gloria has a few paintings of mine, and was always a joy to work with.

Working on a 5-foot by 7-foot painting has its challenges. In the tiny studio space I had at the time, needless to say it was a challenge, just being able to move around. Seeing this scan, and pretty much my work on the painting for the first time in nearly 14 years, I cannot help but notice the "painterly" look of the brush strokes. VERY pleased with that, if I must say. Also, the layers of detail, built up in glazes and dry-brushing, finally topped off with a glaze of Quinacridone Gold, a color that is decadently rich and transparent. I love using it whenever I get the chance.  Also, the size of the painting pretty much begged for loose paint strokes, even within the confines of what is basically an architectural rendering.

Now that I have the proper kind of place to make a large painting, I look forward to doing just that. I also want to work on linen again. It has a very burlap-ish appearance to it, not your usual canvas weave. 

I just bought a stretched linen canvas that was primed with CLEAR gesso, allowing for that rough look to be directly painted over. That should be a fun experiment!