A. Waichulis - Frontier (7x5", Oil) - WIP images

Here’s a few glimpses at the development of a recent piece, Frontier (7x5", Oil.)


(Finished work) Frontier, 7x5", Oil

WIP images:

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It’s so realistic that the photo of your brush on the frontier man looks like you are dusting off the real toy figure. SOOO FANTASTIC!

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These are awesome! I hope you keep sharing your WIP pics!

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So awesome!!

One of the surprising things to me about your MO is that you seem to be painting each section close to 100% completion as you work from top to bottom. I’m not familiar with the trompe-l’oeil genre, is that a standard approach? I’m curious if you ever used a more ‘block everything in first’ kind of method or just in general why you do it in sections.

It’s interesting to me to see some of your sketch also. Do you do a lot of your measuring during the drawing stage or is it just a loose sketch? I remember you mentioned you avoid doing too elaborate of a drawing stage.

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Hi Jacob—

Great questions for sure!!! I don’t think that there is a standard approach to a Trompe L’oeil work any more than there would be with Figure or Still Life. My earlier works indeed started with a more general “lay-in” (as many employ today) but I quickly began to question why I couldn’t do more in these early layers. I do understand that there could be some broad contextual issues that arise from working this way—but experience has allowed me to contend with them (hopefully) successfully.

As to sketches/cartoons—again, mine are fairly simple (and seem to grow a little simpler each year). So much so that I think some might even go so far as to describe some areas as a visual survey as opposed to a developed cartoon. Lol! As I have mentioned before, I truly enjoy doing most of my drawing with the paint and I believe that this is evident in my start. However, you can see me using a slightly more developed cartoon work from my piece “Discovery” found in the WIP section here:

http://www.smartermarx.com/t/painting-photos-video-small-shadow-box-still-life/82

This piece (Discovery 7x5", Oil on panel) was used for the Language of Painting DVD series.

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Anthony, how are you assured that all of the square centimeters you paint in one day, seamlessly complement each other the other day when you continue painting, especially when some parts might have sunken in?

What are your thoughts about oiling out or using a thin retouching varnish?

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Hi Mark! While it is absolutely true that some values/colors may indeed sink-in after a day or so, experience has allowed me to adapt without much thought. Granted, there may always be some slight deviations, but these are corrected in subsequent layers. It may seem odd to some, but may later layers are often comprised of attacking larger swaths of surface area–thus ensuring that any “smaller component disparities” (starts and stops over different sittings) are resolved prior to finish.

I don’t utilize any retouch varnish in my process, but I absolutely oil out to contend with sinking in in later layers. You may find this thread helpful on the topic:

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It’s amazing what Anthony can achieve in one layer. I’d like to get there, but currently I seem to still need a bit of lay-in value/hue context cues. I’d like to grow into his approach because it is very efficient. He has the expertise and experience to pull it off.

Let’s keep working. We’ll get there!

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How did i miss this??? Unbelievable! Love the color design and cowboys are ao cool!!!

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