Micheal G Madigan Photography: www.mgmadiganphotography.comwww.michealmadigan.c...

Micheal G Madigan Photography: www.mgmadiganphotography.com

www.michealmadigan.c...: www.mgmadiganphotography.com www.michealmadigan.com So now it rests....        I  turned the lights off on session #9 of this pai...

www.mgmadiganphotography.com

www.michealmadigan.com





So now it rests....


       I  turned the lights off on session #9 of this painting's progress on Monday evening, with the
expectation that final varnishing would begin some time this week. I sat with the work for about an hour on Tuesday morning, seeing no call for major changes, and being satisfied with the present state of the work. It's time to let it rest for a while. I'll hang it on the studio wall opposite my painting
station for a few days, letting some time in for objectivity, or it's well disguised semblance, to live with the piece for a while before final steps.

Most of the time, the finalization of the work...i.e. minor glazing to adjust color relationships,

some minor detailing ,etc....are things only i would notice, but loose ends that i always seem to need to address before the work goes out into the world ( a Title is needed too.)

I will let it rest for a while.

It's one studio habit I force on the work and myself.

I'm inviting anyone following these postings to

drop me a line if you can spare a moment. Just a quick "hi" or thumbs up or down, to see if this

system works. Also, please do visit the websites listed here and at the top of the page to see the full

body of my paintings  www.michealmadigan.com and photography www.mgmadiganphotography.com

Thanks and cheers, MM

Micheal G Madigan Photography: www.mgmadiganphotography.comwww.michealmadigan.c...

Micheal G Madigan Photography: www.mgmadiganphotography.com

www.michealmadigan.c...: www.mgmadiganphotography.com www.michealmadigan.com ...sessions 5 and 6.... progressions I'll take a moment here to write about ...

www.mgmadiganphotography.com

www.michealmadigan.com


...sessions 5 and 6.... progressions


I'll take a moment here to write about  what else happens in the studio while painting.

I play alot of music(guitar, Irish whisles). I sing and chant. I nap periodically in a hammock with one eye on the work, ready to jump to to answer a vision.I scan through photos on the computerwhile waiting for the last process to dry sufficiently...properly... ,to go forward. I make calls, or color balance images in lightroom.

Alot to this process of creating a painting involves keeping one's mind away from intellectualizing,
thinking of the next thing to do. That's not how it works, in here.I set conditions, i see what's next to be done, i apply, or subtract, colors, layers, textures. I watch for the heart of the work to form.I quit
when it's tempting methodical progressions, or when my back hurts, or i'm hungry, or something else
 takes me out of the works voice.


So , here's how todays sessions went.

Now with larger works like this, the days sessions usually are dedicated to the one individual work.

I may keep two or three smaller works in process at one time in other circumstances...but the big ones

take up all my energy in 

the day

Micheal G Madigan Photography: www.mgmadiganphotography.comwww.michealmadigan.co...

Micheal G Madigan Photography: www.mgmadiganphotography.com
www.michealmadigan.co...: www.mgmadiganphotography.com www.michealmadigan.com ....at the end of session #4....          The end of session # 4 b...

www.mgmadiganphotography.com

www.michealmadigan.com

....at the end of session #4....

         The end of session # 4 brings the new painting to this state: 

This is what will greet me tomorrow morning ,this work in progress, at 44" x 80". There are,perhaps, 6 layers of paint to this stage, and two to 4 major subtractive processes. The usual wrestling match ,for me, will begin around 8:30 a.m. : What to subtract ,what to add, what to sacrifice, what will be

evoked?   Tomorrow will tell.

So far, two clearly defined "psychological" wrestling matches with this piece, and three back icings...some numb fingers to attend to, and a general

acceptance of the evolution of this work. 

Sessions 1, 2 and 3 were not of importance, visually, to the narrative of this work, so you're given this

state to consider.

I'll present you with a few more source images...

...that may be of use in future sessions, as memory serves and dissolves.

A New Painting Begins Today

www.mgmadiganphotography.com
www.michealmadigan.com



I'm beginning a new work today,a large acrylic on panel. As i do with all of my works, i've gathered together a number of photographic sources for this piece. They'll be my "memory prompts"...serving in the layered evolution of the painting. I'll be working from a time period from early Spring and a trip my wife and I made to the west of Ireland. I've lost count of the number of times I've walked this
path in the last 15 years.It's a place that calls me back, time and again, to discover new visions of ancient things.

I'm not going to include all 30 or so images that begin this process for me...just a few to give a flavor of the tone for the painitng to come....

So wish me luck ahead