Painting A Chair

Why paint a chair? Why not?

This is one of the guard chairs in the Louvre. While I was there I was struck very much by the windows and the chairs often sitting close to them - almost always empty. The combination of the light being very strong and the suprising range of window/chair combinations in the place made me want to paint at least a few of them.

This is the first layer of the painting - there is a very general drawing underneath in watercolour pencil that I wasn't skilled enough to photograph - which will form a basis for the next layer. It is painted in a fairly neutral ultramarine/burnt sienna mix of three tones. In this particular case I suspect the next layer will be the last one - a fairly thin layer of colour and a couple of highlights should be all that is needed to explain what is happening. The idea is that such a simple subject (chair in light) leads itself to more expressive brushwork.

The painting will therefore succeed or fail on the quality of that brushwork and the harmony of the shapes and colours.

Suddenly this doesn't sound such a good idea!