I was asked to provide an art demonstration, for Aboriginal Awareness Week, at the local high school, so I agreed to create a box frame, stretch canvas and finish a painting...
in the span of a single school-day.
I prefer to make my own canvases, on a "box-frame" that is self-framing.
The joints of the box frame are "butted", so that a mitre saw is not necessary to create the corners. After lining up the flat edges of the boards, holes are drilled and countersunk, then coarse thread drywall screws connect the boards.
To align the "brace" attachment points between the long sides of the frame, the board is placed, then the outline traced. After removing the brace, then two or three points can be drilled from the 'inside', then countersunk from the outside before fastening the screws.
The canvas is draped, then tacked with staple gun, several staples at a time, flattened down with a hammer. The piece is moved so that next tacking is opposite of previous tacking. Alternate between axes often.
The canvas is tacked flat, then the fold is stapled down "on top" and on the "downside", to reduce visibility.
This was the initial sketch for the piece. I had been thinking about this composition for a while, as a variation on the Sturgeon Hunt bronze sculpture proposal composition.
After priming the canvas with 'matte gel medium', the initial objects (rocks) are sketched in with pencil. Then the background colour is placed around them.
Normally, I would start with a solid background colour, then work from background to foreground but I worked this piece rather flat because of the time demand.
The rocks are blocked in with shades of gray.
I decided to suggest the boulders as "lodges", by using a black shaded semi oval to suggest "doors". Although I did not have the time to develop this theme, rock is often seen as the dwelling of spirit in Native mythologies.
If you look closely, you will see the outlines of three sturgeon that I "scratched"-in with the pointy end of a paintbrush.
Scratch detail 1.
Scratch detail 2.
Filling in the fish bodies with a rough solid colour.
NB - Note the position of the fin under the gill of the large sturgeon in the foreground and how it changes to the next picture. I stood back, looking at the piece at this stage and determined that the body shape was way out of balance and made the necessary changes.
The lateral lines are scratched in, modified and finalised, highlight coloursand "bellies" added and human elements introduced (in the style of the Canadian Shield pictograph).
Begun blackline outlining, adding more detail. [This pic is a bit washed out.]
Foreground humans given minimal features, sturgeon spears added and outlining finalised. Sketch, below, for comparison. Fini.
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