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| "Calles de Cuba" mixed media by Tom Wills, January 2017 |
In the dead of winter, I painted tropical heat.
"Calles de Cuba," the title chosen by the owner for this commissioned piece, No. 355, means "Streets of Cuba." This particular scene is from along the Malecon, a seaside hangout in Havana for Cubans with the buzzing old cars driving by on one side and the waves hitting the sea wall on the other. It was taken in December 2016.
It's based on a photo taken there by Kalea Hall, business reporter for The Vindicator newspaper in Youngstown, Ohio.
Other pieces that I have done for this world traveler are London (No. 301
http://tomwillsproductions.blogspot.com/2015/08/no-301-gift-for-gram.html ) and Peru (No. 230
http://tomwillsproductions.blogspot.com/2013/12/no-230-girl-on-her-mountain.html ).
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| Kalea Hall returns to Cuba. |
She says:
"Traveling is important to me. I know there's so much out there to see that I haven't yet, so many people I want to meet and so many new stories to tell. I have to try to get out there as much as I can so I have more stories to tell. The story is always better when you have more stories in it to make it up.
This Cuba picture gives life to my experience in a country that has been nearly impossible to travel to until last year. It shows the cool Cuban attitude, the colorful vibe of the city and the history of a country still dealing with the impact of politics on its economy. "
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| Original photo by Kalea Hall |
Kalea never picks easy ones.
In a broad sense, "Calles de Cuba" is a painting. And yet the final result for "Streets of Cuba" really is mixed media, as it started with an ink-and-pencil sketch. That was followed by several layers and hues of watercolor paint, colored pencils, and then more watercolors to finish it off.
The trick with all of these tools is to make the transitions from ink to paint to pencil and back look seamless. The smaller tools were used to bring out highlights such as a glint of light on chrome, ripples in clothing and shadows on buildings.
I sought to capture the sun, the heat, the claustrophobic sense of the narrow street, and the essential grime of poverty creeping off of some of those balconies. It's beautiful, this Cuban scene, but it's worn out.
I kept thinking about Kalea telling me how the old cars -- taxis -- all "smelled terrible." You can't draw that but you can convey the wearing and tearing.
She recalls:
"There was a bit of must inside these older cars and there should be. These cars are 50-plus years old. Despite the must, there's a sweet sensation you get when you roll down a window with a handle instead of a button, when you feel the engine roar in your stomach and when you hear the owner or renter of the car proudly say how old his car is."
The first thing I did with "Streets of Cuba" was to draw the picture, and then erase it! I wanted to leave only the faintest of pencil outlines, for drawing over with the ink. I hoped to use the ink to capture the darkest recesses of the picture, and build out from there with colors and shading. I did the car first, as it would be one key to the final image. I built up from the sides the various buildings and balconies, trying to create a perception of distance.
Central to the image is the walking man. In the photo above, you can see how I have penciled him in, outlined the curb line and defined some building fronts.
Next came a wash of watercolors: The blue cars, the blue sky, the various tones of buildings and balconies. Interestingly, the first wash of the sky is the final sky. The blue dried in a way that resembled light, puffy clouds so I let it be. It was just dumb luck.
I had to be patient and allow each layer of color to dry before adding the next, so that they did not bleed into each other. This is where those light pencil lines came in handy. I purposely left the walking man vague -- I would ink and color him near the end of the project.
A more detailed amount of brush work came next: Shadows, some mold and mildew, rust. I did something unusual in an effort to recreate the rough stone work along the curb and at the base of the pink building. Using a piece of note paper and carbon paper, I rubbed out a section of basement concrete wall block, and then transferred the resulting stencil onto the painting, then washed over it with gray. Instant stone.
I also began using the colored pencils to sharpen up lines, add shadows, create highlights, and complete that transition between the ink and the paints. This actually was the most time-consuming part of the whole process, as I worked from building to building -- one floor at a time. But it was rewarding as here I could see the picture really taking shape.
Finally it was time to approach the walking man. He got inked, then painted, then penciled, then highlight-painted -- from the brim of his cap to the soles of his canvas sneakers. He is carrying some item wrapped in canvas -- Kalea says there are such couriers all over the town. The walking man is purposefully brighter and sharper than the rest of the image, as he draws the eyes first to the foreground.
Near the end of the project I discovered that the picture had to be lengthened by about an inch, to fit the mat and the frame. This involved adding to the pavement at the bottom, blending the new into the old. It seemed an easy task but in the end involved re-painting the entire street, to get the tones right. The final "pavement" looks more like concrete, and is far less translucent than the original version.
I asked Kalea what she wanted to call it, and she said "Calles de Cuba." So I signed the painting and inked that title in the right hand corner.
The frame is a simple but sturdy dark hardwood. The key to selecting this frame is the cream-colored mat and the brown outline that directly sets off the painting, bringing out the browns and oranges.
"Calles de Cuba" took three weeks, over Christmas vacation and New Years Day, during a few freeze and thaw cycles. It is my most difficult and detailed piece yet. I get a warm feeling from looking at it.
