Portrait of a Typewriter

Remington, 2011

14" x 10"

I'm interested in paintings that appear to be black and white, or tonally uniform, but that are actually made with colours.  This is something that I notice in Andrew Wyeth's work.  I'm looking at his "Wind from the Sea" (1948) right now, where everything is grey and white and cream. The grass is in dull ochre colours and the pine trees are almost black, with no touch of green. 

In my small typewriter painting, I mixed the black using cobalt blue and burnt umber - this gives a warm black which you can darken by adding more blue.  The reflection of light off of the silvery metal produces little prism-like effects with shots of orange reflecting on the edges of the keys.  The black of the ribbon and roller has magenta purple and yellow ochre mixed with lamp black and titanium white to give the illusion of the matte finish.  I wanted to create a feeling of intimacy in the painting by concentrating on the shadows playing on the keys.

I completely admired the scale of the Royal typewriter that Warhol did and that I saw at the AGA here in Edmonton this summer.  Of course, it has a more graphic and iconic quality than my smaller more intimate 'portrait.'  

Detail of Remington