Stick a Fork in It!!

As they say "Stick a fork in it and call it done!"
I'm calling it done!

 

Tractor Heaven

24 x 24  mixed media on board

(graphite, acrylic and oil)

 

Where do old tractors go when their life is spent?  Many of them still sit in fields with vines thickly growing over them...I've photographed these pieces.  But I think that their souls must go to a 'Tractor Heaven' where they share old stories with other vintage equipment.  For some reason old tractors fascinate me and I wanted to include several different angles of them all in one painting...a kind of collage done in mixed media.

 

I started with a  wooden panel that had an undercoat of color on it after several coats of gesso.  I strived to depict not only the different styles of tractors and their various parts and pieces, but also a feel for the old textures of their peeling paint, their rusting metals and the patched areas that kept them running and working.  There is a lot in this piece....and it may be confusing to some who view it.  But to others it contains many hidden nugents of new information just waiting to be seen and explored.

 

a close up of some of the textures layered onto the panel

 

a detail of a portion of the painting

 

This type of painting is not easy...unless it is carefully planned ahead of time (and it was not!) an artist can easily back themselves into a corner where there is no real movement of eye nor feeling of cohesiveness.  It results in a dangerous game of push and pull where you have to eliminate and accentuate different pieces...sometimes totally wiping out a part that you previously labored over.  I promised myself that the next time I embarked upon such a style I will make many sketches beforehand, and carefully think it out before starting with the first sketch...yeah, right!  Well, one can hope!  Here's to several more pieces featuring these workhorses.

 

Enjoy.