Incremental Pigmentation

13 in x 21 in,

6/2024

I almost called this one “Black, White and Four Browns”, because that’s really what it is – a gradual mixing of dark to light browns in linear sequence to capture the subtle differences in hues from dark to light, with overlays of a gradient of grays. My daughter came up with the name “Incremental Pigment” when she saw it in person, and I thought that name was better. I made the painting thinking about melanin and human complexion, and in response to my wife saying I should do a piece that gradually went from the darkest of complexions to the lightest. However, instead of just having one large gradient across a canvas, I chose to lay down four in parallel and going in opposing directions. I added the impasto grays to add interest and to represent the process of aging, thinking of how our hair grays over time as our hair follicles lose the ability to add melanin as we grow older