Lab Book #14, Part 2: the Tightrope Walker

This is the second installment in the Lab Book#14 series, called the tight rope walker. The overall series is titled 'Three Ringed Flying Circus on Wheels' as I try to keep a circus theme which each one. There are currently seven parts, with number 8: 'the burlesque dancer' nearly done. In Part 2, a character holds a 'rather limp' balance beam as he tries to negotiate across a thin wire. At the end of the wire an alien feeds the wire into the gaping mouth of a giant. Other characters and shadowy figures look on. The picture is set in a tent, and in the middle you can see the tent parting to see the blue sky and trees beyond. In each of the Lab Book 14 paintings I use a signature colour combination-a deep red-brown (in Part 2 you see it in the background at the top and the the left of the walker). To make this red-brown, I put down a layer of pure alizarin crimson (PR83), and when it dries I cover it in viridian (a dark green). This technique is called glazing (when you superimpose layers of paint), and it creates a final colour far more vibrant than if you just mix the two colours together. I also used glazing in the giants head. First, I put down a gentle blue/purple, and then overlay with a sharp pink-orange. If you get it right it looks like real skin. Too much orange or red though and it looks like Barbie with a bad tan. 

 Book #14, Part 2: the Tight Rope Walker, watercolour 12 x 16" hot press, 2009 (No. 1801)