The Art of Marty McCorkle: October 2016

mad scientist's day off

By Marty McCorkle, oil painting on paper, 10 x 8 inches.

Pandanggo Sa Ilaw- 5th painting step

Painting in progress, 36 x 48 inches by Marty McCorkle.

Pandanggo Sa Ilaw- 4th painting step

Pandanggo Sa Ilaw- 3rd painting steps

Painting in progress: Photographed in sun:

Photographed in shade:

Pandanggo Sa Ilaw Canvas Sketch

Canvas sketch, 36 x 48 inches.

Pandanggo Sa Ilaw - Sketches B

Here are the dancers at eye level.

The previous nearest dancers that were facing away cover up too much of the further figures, so they are now in profile.

Pandanggo Sa Ilaw - Color Composition

This rather cavalier batch of characters hired a group portrait of their voluntary militia company by one Rembrandt van Rijn, who agreed to the portrait commission only to toss it in the back seat of his genius and four wheeling its subjects over the jostling hills of great mastery, before stranding this company forever within this brilliant painting.

Others have discussed this painting amply. I want to point Rembrandt's visual device of juxtaposing light and dark areas upon the canvas to great theatrical effect.

The primary light-dark juxtaposition is in the form of the woman passed in front of by a shadowed figure, making the light falling upon her seem more brilliant.

A second example of this light-dark device can be seen in the lightly dressed male in the center of the painting, whose spear's dark, decorative head contrasts dramatically with his lighted clothing.

In another painting, Rembrandt uses light-dark juxtaposition to depict candle light compellingly. Interestingly, the light source, a candle flame, is hidden behind the man's hand.

Now brace yourself for the letdown of leaving Rembrandt's work and considering my own art.

Take some time to lower your exceptions, warm your lips up for pursing, sharp intakes of breath and tut-tuttings. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Ready? Okay, here' the 7.5 x 10 inch composition that I shared previously.

My comparatively feeble attempts at light-dark juxtaposition rely upon the two nearest figures facing away from us.
With the final 36 x 48 inch canvas on the easel in front of me, I considered the figures in the foreground much too large for a larger composition and digitally reduced their relative size.
I made other minor tweeks, including bringing the musicians (upper right) slightly closer.

I tweeked minor items a bit more...

...before considering dress colors, rudimentary depiction of dress details and adjusting overall light-dark values.

Keep in mind this will only be an overall guide to the final painting. I will be working out the painting's details, from smoothness of faces, to hand anatomy small adjustments in poses, on the canvas.

So are we ready to take the leap onto canvas, where changes can still be made to clothing and their colors, patterns and folds, to hand gestures, to faces?

But by moving onto a canvas, we forego significant changes to figure's positions and major changes to the composition.

I've thoughtfully worked out the figures so that they neither crowd but still suggest relationships with one another. And the dancers don't overlap oddly; no arm of a farther figure comes out of a closer figure's face like an elephant's trunk, for example.

Here are candles roughly added to some of the heads. I am uncertain whether the addition of candles upon the head improve the composition.

Maybe a candle on the head of on one or two dancers only?

Let me know.

plane crash

By Marty McCorkle, oil paint on coated paper, 10 x 8 inches.

Pandanggo sa Ilaw - Sketches 1

Candle dance, oil paint on coated paper, 8 x 10 inches, by Marty McCorkle

Candle dance, charcoal, conte pencil and white pastel on coated paper, 12 x 18 inches, by Marty McCorkle

Pandanggo sa Ilaw reference images

Image parameters:

"In terms of the lighting, it should feel like the later dusk of a long summer day"
"candles that seem to be floating like fireflies"
"pops of color from the women's clothing"
"I prefer more of a cropped image because it conveys an intimacy and immersion, like I was just about to ask one of the girls to dance."
"...would like to depict only female dancers."
"three oil lamps which are called as the 'tinghoy'"
"other version of the dance is called the 'Oasiwas'"
"circling with the lighted lamps on the hands of the dancers"
"This unique dance from the province of Pangasinan is a colorful dance that requires the dancers to balance the oil lamps on their head while doing their circling in their hands the lighted lamps that are wrapped in the porous cloth or wrapped in the fishnets. "
"In Oriental Mindoro, this festival with the dance at the center of it all is called the 'Pandang Gitab' or the 'Festival of Lights'."
"The costumes that are used by the dancers of this festival may vary and some of the dresses are plain and some are flashy too.The dresses may also feature floral prints and mostly these dresses are done in orange hues."
"In terms of clothing, a fisherman's village version of the mestiza dress would be ideal. Nothing too ornate or made of too fancy material. May be a working woman's version, if you will. As you mentioned, colors are a must."