The World of Light

Unveiling at the Studio on Thursday, May 30, 2024 from 6 - 7:30pm

All are welcome

The process of this creating this painting —

The first stage was to create an underpainting at a scale of 48 x 60 inches, which contained three life-size figures painted in oils on a canvas prepared by hand. Once the imagined figures had been painted, the Artist created a transfer. This was done by taking a translucent piece of vellum and selecting the key lines to use for the transfer that would reestablish the angel’s heads proportions at a scale harmonious with the other figures in the composition. Once these lines were selected and gone over with black chalk, the entire backside of the vellum was covered in a black charcoal rub.

The second stage of the process was preparing a sheet of drawing paper with a tinting recipe which the Artist had inherited from his late mentor. This recipe had origins and use in the 15th century Italy. It consists of a single layer applied with a brush, of calcium carbonate, rabbit skin glue, and raw umber and bone black pigments, to a sheet of drawing paper.

The third stage was to place the sheet of vellum with the charcoal rub facing the sheet on top of the drawing paper. The Artist then passed over the lines with a hard stylus to transfer the lines. Once complete, any remaining charcoal was gently brushed away only leaving the desired lines.

The fourth stage was to draw the preparatory study for the head of the Angel. The artist had to select a model that had a similar physicality to the imagined head of the Angel and bring her into the studio for a series of sessions to be observed using the sight-size method used to develop the drawing from life. The Artist focused solely on the facial structure and carefully discerned which aspects of the sitter’s likeness to use to inform the drawing as to maintain the angelic proportions.

Preparatory Study, Head of an Angel, 2023
Black and white chalks on prepared paper
16.5 x 22.5 inches

This drawing, a study for Jonathan's new large-scale, imaginative painting The World of Light, has been made on hand-prepared paper using a recipe from the 15th century.