Mondrian

I got my first commission for a painting a few months ago - well, I'm embellishing! Brendan asked me to paint a copy of a Mondrian for his office... At first, I wasn't very enthusiastic about it. Why would I want to paint squares and lines?? What I really enjoy is painting nature, so this would be of no interest to me!!

Well, like with all things I do ("tout ce qui mérite d'être fait mérite d'être bien fait" says the little voice in my head), I started researching the subject some more, and now, I'm hooked!

I started with some investigation into composition and how to make the picture interesting, how to draw the eye in. Then, I did a quick mock up with colour. Then, an acrylic on watercolour paper, to figure out how to keep my lines straight. I read up on a site that his black lines are quite flat, that the coloured boxes have lines all going in the same direction, and that his white boxes have a lot of lines going in different directions...

I'm now at the stage where I've started my layers on the canvas, and I've discovered this site from Harvard where they analyse Mondrian's techniques, and I'm discovering plenty more!
My painting won't be an exact reproduction. For a start, I'm using Acrylics, while he used Oils, but I don't think I can face another medium at this point! I have found it fascinating that he is using brushstrokes in different directions for different layers, building up the painting layer by layer.
Here is an example:Here is the information from the Harvard site about this detail:
"This micrograph illustrates Mondrian's characteristic buildup of paint in layers. The surface layer has horizontal strokes, but through this layer you can detect the vertical strokes of a lower layer. Yet another horizontally painted layer of red, somewhat deeper in color, is visible next to the black line, and this one too has a vertically painted layer beneath it."

And I've also found out that he even painted the side of the canvas! I think I'll do that too, although I'm not quite sure how I'll get a masking tape to stick to it, so I might have to just paint over the nails and hope for the best. I'm not sure what a masking ribbon is, and how to attach it.
Here is an example of his technique and the information from the web site:

"The tacking edge of the canvas is an integral part of Mondrian's paintings. He covered the nails that attach the canvas to the stretcher with a strip frame, or in this case with a masking ribbon."

There are many other examples of his technique on that website from Harvard. Go and have a look. It's well worth it.