A Painting: The Process and the Result

In our family room, Alisha had been working on a montage wall that wasn't as successful as she had hoped. The wall is large and the montage assembled with various family photos, sketches, and paintings never became the focal point of the room. The problem in our family room is a common one in the American household. The focal point was the TV. As interesting as the montage wall was, it couldn't compete with the large dark rectangle that dominated the room. 

You can see the photo montage in the family room right over Davy's shoulder to the right (sorry, this is the best photo I could find of the wall) and you can see the TV to the left.

Alisha after pondering for months on what to do, approached me with a suggestion of painting a large painting for the room. I am no stranger to these requests as I have painted murals nine times in the past nine years and have created various pieces of artwork throughout our marriage for many a bare space. I jumped at the chance. Her direction was that it had to be big and striking to dominate the room while at the same time not obnoxious or something we will grow tired of. I had been reading a lot of comic books lately and some of the most exciting series have been the retro styled ones like Superman Confidential, The New Frontier, and Batgirl Year 1. Alisha and I discussed and we thought it would be great to create an updated version of Roy Lichtenstein and blow up a comic book panel as the painting. 

I put together mockups of multiple options for her to choose from and we reviewed them one evening. She loved many of them and it was a difficult choice. In the end, she wanted something with a cityscape and the Batman and Robin one where they are overlooking the city was her favorite. I agreed to remove the word cloud and we had our painting. 

The above crop was based on this panel from the Batgirl Year One series. Marcos Martin is the artist and Alvaro Lopez and Javier Rodriguez did the inking and colors. 

The first step in creating the painting was to stretch my own canvas. If art school taught me anything, it was how to stretch a canvas. I picked up some lumber and canvas and went to work. The size of the canvas ended up being 7' by 5'. It was very large. The whole process mesmerized Whitman as I used the saw, drill, and pliers building and stretching the canvas. End of day 1.

Once I was finished, I used cheap acrylic craft paint from Michaels to paint the underpainting. This underpainting would give an overall night time glow to the painting, create contrast for the city, and create the guide I needed for the figure and city forms.After the underpainting, I used oils (water-based oils - best invention ever) to paint the colors of the city. To Alisha and the boys, the painting wasn't looking so impressive and some doubt was creeping in. This is a common reaction when I am midway through a painting. I know what the final result will look like and I cut many corners to get there. This technique does not build confidence with my clients (Alisha and the boys).

Once I finished the underpainting I need to let it dry before applying the ink (black lines). End of Day 2.

When I "inked" the forms of Batman and Robin, it became obvious to my clients how the final painting would appear. The boys were astonished at the figures and cheered me on.

One thing I didn't consider when Alisha picked this panel for me to paint, was how much precise work I had to do to create the cityscape. The perspective and the sheer number of forms and lines was a test of patience. The technique I used was applying masking tape to the canvas one inch away from the lines I wanted to ink and then using that as a visual guide as I freehanded each line. This part of the painting took two evenings to finish.

The painting was complete and it looked great. To hang it, I built out a shelf system so that it wouldn't go askew or fall off the wall. The photos don't completely capture the scale or the impression this painting makes in the room. It is now the focal point and the perspective constantly pulls you to look into the city with Batman and Robin. Alisha and the boys are happy with the result and so am I. I may retouch the black "ink" on Batman so that the paint doesn't create so many reflection patterns and apply one more coat to Robin's cape so the effect isn't so mottled.