On process and desire: Trebuchet Magazine

I would like to thank Trebuchet Magazine for the recent article “Love, Longing and Desire: Fatima Ronquillo Interview” written by Lidia Milliterno. Please follow the link to read about my process and influences and about my most recent show “Amore: An Ode to Love” at the Dorothy Circus Gallery in London. This is a long post, longer than the lovely article in Trebuchet. Below, I share my painting process in many more words and pictures.

All my paintings begin with desire. I fall in love with ideas: I saw or read or heard something that I wish to make mine. I begin by researching, sketching, and making sense of it. Preparatory drawings in sanguine conte, white chalk and charcoal fix this spark of an idea into something tangible and workable. The drawing will have just enough in it to make a start. I detest finished drawings or blueprints… they seem too final, as though I am not allowed to change my mind. So the drawings remain open ended, a sketch really… no tiny details, no background, no color…

The drawing is transferred to a panel with a veil or imprimatura of some warm earth tone. This beginning stage of painting is where discipline is needed. And I am not always disciplined. It is so exciting, I am often tempted to skip around. If I get this first stage right, then the painting process goes mostly well. But again, I am often tempted to stray into color, into experimentation and other roads of thought. In painting, just as in other worthwhile endeavors, it is helpful to maintain a beginner’s mind. To create something well, one must be willing to embrace an uncomfortable level of uncertainty.

I paint with a more or less classical layered technique beginning with a grisaille, which I call the “lavender” stage (a mixture of cool Venetian red, cool German vine black and foundation white). Then the picture gets warmer as the layers progress. The flesh gets to the “carnation” stage–kissing the painted surface with a warm earth red. I find the construction of layers fascinating, and I am always learning each time I pick up the brush. People often ask about what medium I use. I used to use loads of medium years ago when I started out, and now the more I paint, the less I use. It’s mostly neat paint, un-thinned because I avoid solvents for my health. In the lower layers, I use paints that naturally dry faster. Then in the upper layers, I use slower drying and more transparent paints (I don’t actually “glaze”). I use Natural Pigments oleogel as a “couch” or a very thin layer of oil on the surface, just to give the paint something to grab onto when needed.

Painting technique can be fraught with anxiety, there is so much that I do not know. It is not surprising that Joshua Reynolds suffered from nearly pathological need to tinker and experiment. My painting technique is essentially one that produces the least amount of heartache for me in the process. Over the years, what I’ve found is that I must remain true to the drawing in order not to get lost in the middle, which for me is the most dangerous stage of painting. There is excitement in the beginning, the middle is full of uncertainty, the final finishing touches are a blend of satisfaction and relief. I suppose I have become more patient, more trusting of the process. For that I am grateful.