Harmony - Tension

Oil on panel

40 x 60 inches

2018

SOUND PAINTING series

In art, tension refers to a restless unstable feeling caused by dissonant colours. In music it refers to a restless unstable feeling caused by a dissonant chord (or chords). The challenge becomes painting tension while maintaining harmony.

I began by using the colour of blue sapphire as my base with a subtle gradation from light to dark. The bottom third of the painting is inspired by the colour of mandarin garnet, quickly establishing dissonance by using complimentary colours. I used brushes in the first stages creating texture and the base for the sound wave sequence. Using paint soaked string, I added rhythm to the wave sequences. I pushed it back by glazing it with red/blue. I then again applied paint using string in a cool tone, creating the subtle vibration. The same cooler blues were used in the lower third over the orange instantly creating vibration. This lower wave is slightly offset, to create more dissonance. I listened to many different genres of music to change the mood in different sections of the painting in order to create more dissonance, from classical to psychedelia.

Using brushes, I then overlapped an orange layer over the lower third to create more tension. By blending it down over the lower wave it created a sense of overlapping, increasing the tension. I worked up several layers of glaze over the orange element further lifting it away from the music below it.

With string I layered more vibrations to either side in cadmium red and blues. This creates the balance needed for harmony.