Silent Conversations

This is my initial layout, drawn in using a thin mixture of Burnt Umber and Bio Thinners. The idea came to me in a Starbucks Coffee venue in Ho Chi Minh City earlier this year. At least 90% of the people were on mobiles, iPads or laptops. The only pair actually having a conversation were the two guys on the left (at the back with partially hidden profiles). I was toying with a name for the painting and thought about 'Starbucks Call Centre'!

Covering the canvas is now my main focus. I tend to keep extremely relaxed at this stage, and don't worry about it looking like a dog's dinner. Some people tend to worry unduly about this stage, as to whether it's ever going to happen. Little secret here... I still do too. If you have a good teacher, now is the time for encouragement. Seeing as I'm the teacher, I have to work it out myself!

I have now covered most of the canvas with a diluted wash of my intended colours. I use mainly Winsor & Newton Artists oils. All the darks are Burnt Umber with varying amounts of French Ultramarine to darken. The skin tones on the main figures in the foreground were Transparent Oxide Red, Yellow Ochre Light and Titanium White. The green shirt; Sap Green, Yellow Ochre Light, Viridian and White. The background was varying mixes of the same with a little French Ultramarine to put some distance into it. The two comfy chairs contain all of the above colours, which keeps them from dominating the painting. The girl's dress colours has Alizarin Crimson, French Ultra, Yellow Ochre Light and White.

Now is the time to add a little more detail. Here I have added a little detail to the foreground girl's skin, dress and coffee cups. I used a few experimental colours which l don't normally use, as l wanted to achieve a more exciting lighting effect on the main subject. I used AS Italian Pink, W/N Transparent Yellow pushed into the existing skin colour. The girl on the right had a different skin complexion and needed to be toned down with a little Alizarin Crimson. She therefore becomes subordinate to the main focus, being the girl on the left. Perspective is important here as the painting starts to take shape with further detail. I had a fairly high horizon to work with, so it was important to get the correct view of the ellipses on the coffee cups. I used a proportional divider to measure them reasonably accurate.

I now fill in more background, trying to place contrasting colours behind the people so that they either blend in or stand out. There are two glassed off compartments to the cafe, which will be put in later, as well as an area of bushes cover up the street beyond. Headlights and various globes festoon through this rather captivating background. If you check the girl's heel, under the foreground table, it doesn't line up with the calf muscle. Also, l haven't painted in her abductor digiti minimi ( a muscle on the outside of her foot) or the lower palm pad of her hand which should show under the phone. These kind of details will be attended to as the painting progresses (if l see them!). 😉

I wanted some colour on the left side of this painting so l added another a girl in, also checking her mobile. The blouse was a mix of W/N Cadmium Yellow Pale, Transparent Cadmium Yellow with Yellow Ochre Pale and a touch of Rembrandt Transparent Oxide Red. I exaggerated the light coming from her mobile, to delineate her face against the decorative glass panel behind her. Most of the other figures are toned down with an exception of the green shirt. This colour acts as a catalyst for the assortment of greens throughout the background. The same, to a lesser extent was the Cadmium Red blouse, as l have placed small patches of the colour in other areas. The two previously mentioned errors on our main subject have been attended to. The thin blueish grey vertical lines now added show the glass partitions.

So here it is, the finished work!

I have tidied up several areas and generally made adjustments, e.g. the vertical line under the green shirted lad's arm has been made less obvious by the inclusion of a crouching figure. I brought more light onto the foreground carpet, as all the dark colours tended to weigh the composition down. There are many overhead lights, so strong shading can be softened off.

One area l found a little perplexing, was the oval shapes of the coffee cups. I have spent so many gruelling hours getting them 'right'. Every morning l look at my painting and hope that 'the good art fairy' will magically make 'em right for me. 😉 If you look closely, you can see that two cups have covers on them. Now look even closer, and you will see the prices of their coffees in Vietnamese, on the bill... Only kidding! Made you look though...

For all you aspiring realist artists, look at everything. Nature is the best teacher. Be suspicious of the teacher who repeatedly says "Never...". First, you can learn the rules, then you can learn which ones you can break. My final decision on what l will call the painting is "Silent Conversations". I sincerely hope you have enjoyed the process. Cheers!