Back To The Garden....

 

In Pursuit of Radiance....

It is hard to believe, Dear Readers, but it is already a month since I left you with the "re-made" Adam and Eve panel in the Chapel in all it's Ocher glory, and with the new awareness that it was still not going to look right when I over-painted that beautiful rich ocher with the darker antique gold paint. I was as certain of that as I could be. Even using the lighter brighter gold that I had not used before was not going to lighten the ocher to make that "radiant glow" I was hoping to achieve. So I set it aside and worked on other things (as I always tend to do) while I pondered this dilemma. What to do? I still wanted to under-paint the gold paint. I just needed the right color. And as I was enjoying the beautiful midsummer morning light in my garden, it occurred to me to try the brilliant yellow of buttercups... it would be toned down by the over-painting of gold... but how much would it change the color? Time for another test swatch to find out!

 

Here you can see the test swatch held up to the painting for comparison. 

On the far left I tried the "traditional" under-painting

 for gold leaf... a cadmium red,

 then in the middle I applied the two layers of ocher paint

 that are currently the painting's background,

 and on the right I painted the brilliant cadmium yellow. 

The over-painting at the top is the "antique gold" that I usually use, 

and at the bottom is the brighter "thalo gold" I am not so familiar with. 

And Lo and Behold...! 

The two layers of thalo gold over the cadmium yellow

 combine to make a similar shade as that of the ocher by itself,

 but it is also iridescent! 

 

But to get there we need to start with a white background.... again!

 

I have stopped counting the times.... 

but it is painted white again 

(for now, I am only working on the Paradise panel....)

And then we begin to add the bright pure yellow! 

 

Yes, at first it is a shock to the senses... 

that brilliant yellow! 

 

Because we in the North have become so used to 

the drab browns and faded grays of the world.... 

this color seems outrageous! 

But perhaps that is part of the truth of the Fall... 

we cannot really imagine or understand 

the brilliant Perfection of Paradise....

 we can only strive toward that dream...

 

 

Here you can see the pigments..... 

the white, the yellow, the rich, light gold.....

 

 

Which I have begun to apply here.... 

at the top behind the branches and the apples... 

but it is nearly impossible to tell... 

the difference is so subtle.

 

 

Here it has been added to the upper portion

 of Adam's side of the panel....

it just creates a slightly more ocher tone...

and tames the brilliant yellow just a little bit...

 

Maybe at this angle you can see more of the iridescence....?...

 

 

Here the entire background has been over-painted with the gold... 

but only one coat!

 

 

Two layers will probably make the right difference... 

the bottom corner of the sample swatch 

has two layers of the gold.

 

 

 Here the whole panel has the two layers of the bright gold... 

I tried to get the angle of the light right to show the iridescence... 

but I think it has worked!

The "too brilliant" yellow has been toned down a notch... 

replaced by the "glowing gold" radiance I was hoping for!

But Alas, outside of Eden, it has once again made me aware

 that those scenes now need to be revised... 

the dark ocher as rich and lovely as it is, needs to go.

 

 

Surely, what we have lost the most is that rich, warm brilliance....

 

 

Outside of Eden, it is a hardscrabble life....

 

 

And because I don't know exactly 

where we are going.... 

it is a tentative path... Dear Readers, 

but step by step we will find a way 

 in the Search for this Radiance... 

or the nearest thing we can find

 outside of the Garden!