Summer Shadows

With this painting, I wanted to combine a more abstract approach to brushwork with my more traditional realistic approach. In my artist statement, I mention that my painting subject is the play of light on objects and the ability for the light and shadow to sculpt form. In this painting, the strong late afternoon light is quite evident. My model, Jacob, was seated on the floor of my studio with the light from the west windows pouring in strongly. The vertical and horizontal wood crosspieces in the window created a wonderful pattern across his shirt and face. This is what inspired me to paint this image. The shadows on the shirt have been painted in a rather loose style to represent the diffused edges of light at the edges of the shadows. The realistic treatment of the face and arm contrast with this painterly area nicely. In many of my compositions, I seek to break from the norms. In this painting, I intentionally cropped the scene to place the model's face in the upper right corner with the face facing down and out of the picture frame rather than toward the center.