Ride the Lightning

     After taking a break from my most recent panting (Goodbye Blue Skies), I decided it was time to begin the second phase of the process. I have known for some time that it was going to be a chaotic storm with crimson skies, set against a dark, and foreboding background of black. This second stage of the painting process was dedicated to me working on additional color values for my darkest areas while smoothing out the bridge between highlights. The next mission for this session was to block in the overall appearance, and placement of the heavy lightning storm. 

     To start the night off right, and set the mood for this menacing oil piece, what could be better than a good ole pandora station composed of the Big 4 Gods of Metal? If you are unfamiliar they are as follows (and in my order of preference) Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax. We can also include some odd balls I have spiced in for my brutal metal master mix including: Iron Maiden, Motörhead, and Judas Priest. 

     I began prepping my materials as I always do, and while I ate a bit of muffin, (sharing some with my painting buddy Harper -- a tortoise shell cat); I looked over reference images of various types/colors of lightning. What I find most odd and somewhat eerily coincidental is that all the music from my mix this evening referred to storms, electricity, or darkness of some variety. As I began to paint I was introduced to my canvas by the most epic and appropriate "Call of Cthulhu" - Metallica, then as I started working on the darkened areas, Iron Maiden began to play "Fear of the Dark". Perhaps even more bizarre is the matter of me hearing "Ride the Lightning" as I worked on striking the electric bolts to the cloudscape. 

     Fellow artist friends and blog followers, I would love the feedback on the last colors/placement of the lightning as well as the changes to the highlights, and shading of the piece from this second session. One thing I did have trouble with is trying a decent approach to the lightning form and shape. I thought a pallet knife would work well and it didn't, so now I have to fix the areas where the bolts look like sky spaghetti and not dangerous blast of energy. 

     

A new product that definitely stretched my paint volume out was liquin (gel medium for oils). Working with this product was fantastic and made a little bit of paint go a long way. I definitely would recommend this product as a must have with oil paints to extend the coverage of a small dose as well as preserve the opaqueness. This is a much better solution than thinning with turpenoid or spirits as they damage the binder of the pant and affect the opaqueness and cover potential.