2018 LEFTOVERS & PALETTE GREMLINS - #2

LIGHTSEEKER (2018) by Michael Whelan, the second installment in his 2018 gallery project.

It’s a big idea on a small scrap of canvas!

A couple of months ago, I glanced down at canvas on the floor as I walked by. It was just a scrap cut off a print, but I couldn’t shake the vision it evoked in my mind.

Afraid I might forget, I sketched it out in charcoal then sprayed it with clear gesso to fix the drawing. In all my years painting, I’ve learned not to question an idea that calls to me like that—just execute it and figure out what it’s all about later.

Later that evening as I was cleaning up from another project, I roughed in the image using leftover acrylics on my palette. Then a couple week ago, I went back over it, only fiddling, leaving it sketchy instead of turning it into a finished rendering.

It’s essentially done in three colors: cobalt blue, raw umber, and Payne’s gray, with a touch or two of burnt sienna. The little figure is only ¼" in height, rendered with a tiny Japanese modeler’s brush given to me by Jordu Schell.

I believe now that I was seeking to escape from that other project.