She’s gone

Author’s Note

The plant used to sit on the black cupboard by the stairs. Even though it was not really well kept, it somehow managed to strive through the harsh, dim conditions of a basic room in a usual flat. It felt in place, like the sparse interior design elements had created a peculiar ecosystem. A kind of a house-jungle of sorts. The leafing was matte and heavy from the thick layer of dust. The pot seemed tight. We meant to update it for years, but even agreeing on a specific style proved too difficult.

Now, I keep looking at the empty spot. Its harrowing neatness may seem as a partial cleanup to unaware visitor. For me, the ecosystem is now missing one of its crucial parts. What left is a round dust mark, from where the pot used to sit on the small stack of various cooking books. Now, even though they are easier to reach, there’s no point of cooking anymore.

Description

"She’s gone" presents a small-size artwork with a stylised representation of a fig tree in a red clay pot.
The background is deep blue, with shades of navy and indigo

Technical Information

This work took much less time and preparation than most of my works. It is far less structured, planned or chiseled and leans into the expressive emotional aspects of painting. The concept struck me suddenly, urging the need to paint almost right then and there. This is why I chose a pre-made canvass-wrapped board. Its texture is much less varied than what I usually go with. I feel much better working with the imperfect, organic surface that old-school natural grounding provides.

Nevertheless, the work needed to be done. The whole concept was entirely sketched on the canvas board, from a simple grid, through the primary draft to the artwork blueprint. The stage that usually takes me days, if not weeks, this time was done within one night.

In line with the canvas, I chose acrylic paints to quickly iterate new layers and overlays. The medium enabled speeding up the overall painting process significantly. Sadly, the acrylics don’t share the same wet-mixing and shading properties that my preferred oils do. Instead, they provide a friendly way of heavy layering within a comparatively short period.