My Darling Clementine

Back to a favourite theme and it’s another Ditko/Western mashup.

It’s based on an iconic Wyatt Earp pose in My Darling Clementine (1946), leaning back in the chair with his foot on a vertical strut.  Colours today were quainacrinone magenta, French ultramarine, cadmium yellow, raw sienna, burnt umber, Payne’s grey and titanium white.  I’ve also used salt, clingfilm and the corner of a credit card.

Overall, I’m not 100% happy.  The best bits about it are some technical composition points about the three big bands of colour coming down from the top left and about how the darkest bit of the painting (Wyatt Earp) is surrounded by the brightest bit (the lit up bit of the veranda).  But his head is too small and his left foot doesn’t look as if it’s touching the strut.  Maybe the paint on the chair and the struts needed to be a bit darker, more consistent with Wyatt Earp (but still a different colour, obviously).  And I had trouble with the paint on his left leg running into the background, so had to add in some vegetation to cover it.

Not good.  This one has been cut up to be used as collage material.