Trefoil 1, Work in Progress

This new project is serving a few purposes for me:

Celtic Design
I used to study & create Celtic knotwork, particularly the style seen in illuminated manuscripts, like the Book of Durrow (8th century) and the Book of Kells (9th century). Lately, I've been wanting to dig deeper - trace the motifs further back, into the La Tène culture in the Iron Age (c. 450 BCE to 1st century BCE). I'm also trying to get a feel for the elements that were borrowed and incorporated between cultures, and a vibe for the differences between the insular (island) and the mainland styles.

While I was researching, I came across a harness decoration, cited as c.100-300 CE, "Celtic or Roman". I find it interesting that the uncertainty is based on Celtic design being so popular/widespread, that this could easily have been a Roman thing, but made to look fashionable.

Much of the earlier Celtic styles are kind of wild to my eyes - I haven't yet figured out the "formula" for creating their beautifully asymmetrical swirls, and I thought this piece was a nice middle ground.   I'm particularly interested in it, because of the negative space, and wanted to experiment with reversing the negative/positive. I may likely do a second painting with the negative spaces flipped back to normal, but with the colours reversed.

First, I sketched the piece from the reference image, and plotted it on a canvas. I took a bit of liberty with the shapes, making more S-shapes than in the reference image, and leaning into the "petal" effect it was creating in the triangular bits.

Oil Painting Techniques
And, because why not more than one challenge, I decided I would use it as my subject for teaching myself underpainting and glazing (many thin layers) with oil paints.   Intellectually, I get the idea that a complementary base (ie: opposite) will make it more vibrant, but I can't help feeling like it's going to turn out like mud! I decided I wanted a warm painting, so the underpainting is cadmium orange, and I plan to glaze at least parts of it with cerulean blue.

After painting the base, I took a photo, and brought it into Photoshop, to plan out the reversed positive/negative space. I like that it makes it seem flower-like, but the trumpet" shapes are now receded. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out, and I expect I may do another one, with flipped colours and positive/negative space, using whatever I learn from this experiment.

Wish me luck!

Underpainting. I wondered if I'd gone too thin, or if I'd come to regret leaving visible brushstrokes, but decided to just run with it - it's my first shot at underpainting, so let's see what happens. — Underpainting.
I wondered if I'd gone too thin, or if I'd come to regret leaving visible brushstrokes, but decided to just run with it - it's my first shot at underpainting, so let's see what happens.

Layer 1 Certainly, it didn't make the mud colour that I expected, and I can see potential for the kind of eyeball-tickle that I get from Maxfield Parrish paintings (who tended to paint warm colours on cool underpaintings)...but it still feels weird.… — Layer 1
Certainly, it didn't make the mud colour that I expected, and I can see potential for the kind of eyeball-tickle that I get from Maxfield Parrish paintings (who tended to paint warm colours on cool underpaintings)...but it still feels weird. On the plus side, the very thin layers dry quick, so I should be able to add another pretty soon.
No idea if I'm doing this right, but I'mma keep going!

Roadmap After painting the base, I took a photo, and brought it into Photoshop, to plan out the positive/negative space. I like that it makes it seem flower-like, but the trumpet" shapes are now receded. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out,… — Roadmap
After painting the base, I took a photo, and brought it into Photoshop, to plan out the positive/negative space. I like that it makes it seem flower-like, but the trumpet" shapes are now receded. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out, and I expect I may do another one, with flipped colours/tones, and positive/negative space, using whatever I learn from this experiment.

Layer 2 Whenever I have even the slightest inclination to paint, I have to check myself for energy and time. Do I have enough of both? The answer is usually no (even if it's not always true), and I know this reaction is largely based on how I used t… — Layer 2
Whenever I have even the slightest inclination to paint, I have to check myself for energy and time. Do I have enough of both? The answer is usually no (even if it's not always true), and I know this reaction is largely based on how I used to paint. Painting large and fast for hours is a thing that past-Claire (ie: hypomanic Claire) could do easily, but I have less stamina now, and I know that. I work on smaller canvases now, but time is still a problem as there's always things I can consider to be higher priority than "just painting". Result: months can go by without me picking up a brush.
So this glazing thing is interesting. It's teaching me about energy and time: When you're working on a small canvas, in thin layers that need time to dry in between, 15 minutes can be plenty. It's a very different approach that might actually work really well with both my time & energy limitations.

Layer 5. The impact of using complimentary colours with a complimentary under painting is becoming apparent - it's like somebody turned up the saturation on my eyeballs. — Layer 5.
The impact of using complimentary colours with a complimentary under painting is becoming apparent - it's like somebody turned up the saturation on my eyeballs.