Falling

In Falling, the seasonal reference is pretty obvious in the title with the leaf falling and the spider dropping down. My wife and I talk about how spiders also really seem to come out in force as autumn sets in, so I painted this as a gift for her.

Falling, 2005, Acrylic on Canvas, 10 x 8 in., by David Jay Spyker

I found a couple of digital images of this piece in progress, so I’ve included them below to give a little insight into the process involved with this particular painting. In the first image you just barely spot a pencil line where the silk thread will be. The leaf is underpainted in yellow ochre and given multiple layers of varying transparency (many of them glazes with acrylic medium) over it to achieve a richer color depth.

In the second image you can see where I am beginning to define the veins, the stem, and the underside areas of the leaf with burnt sienna.

Between the second image and finishing the piece, I painted in some more semi-transparent whites over the violet-toned area at the bottom and left in order to push it back a bit since it was just coming on too strong.

All paints and mediums used were by Golden Artist Colors.