Hold back the shadows

Yesterday, having read through a lengthy epistle from a friend of a friend in China, we decided to curtail any further expeditions from home. Regretting that trip to the library to collect the paintings I'd hung there, I elected to set aside all the books I'd stocked up on, for fear that even they might prove contagious.

Not surprisingly, my first trip into the studio -- I turned on all the lights, filled my water container, hung the next canvas to be painted over on the wall -- ended, not with a bang, but a whimper. As sometimes happens -- especially in the lull after lunch -- I just couldn't summon up the energy to pick up a brush.

So instead I turned to my computer for a bit: watched a couple of online Sunday services, one conducted by a friend and one conducted by my aunt (though I confess I didn't make it all the way through either, it was reassuring to hear the familiar words and familiar voices; see their faces) played a game, ordered some books from Amazon (and then wondered if they, too, might arrive infected)...

Within an hour or so my energy was back and so I returned to the studio determined to paint over the canvas at right (another sterling example of what happens when I try to paint something on purpose).

I pulled the saran wrap trick again (most of what was left on the palette was Prussian blue, with a tiny bit of teal and ultramarine blue), and then -- because this is my safety zone -- picked a large brush and some raw Sienna (I'm assuming Prussian and Sienna should be capitalized because they are place names?) and started the broad horizontal and vertical strokes that are most comfortable for me. (Are you catching the theme here? Safety? Comfort?)

Pleased with the emerging textures of the underpainting, I then opened my jar of hard body titanium white, mixed it with some fluid white, and began building up some contrast to the darker center.

For the final touches and to add balance I took up my palette knife (another comfort tool, because it offers random amounts of texture without my having to plan it), and here you have the result.

I'm calling it urban reflections, and as I look at it I realize it's yet another expression of the fear under which we're living. In contrast to that lengthy epistle from China, I also saw several bogus postings yesterday claiming horrific hospital conditions in Seattle, along with some real photos from our children of the empty shelves in the stores where they shop. And though there've only been two confirmed cases of the virus on our island, we nonetheless look across the water at the dark news from our city and see the shadows looming larger and streaming closer...

Wash your hands, don't touch your face, and stay home, folks. Let's do our best to hold back the shadows...

Learnings: Raw Sienna is too orange to be paired with Prussian Blue. 
                  This isn't a bad painting but I hate the colors.
                  I need larger, more cohesive blocks of white.