Infusing an interior with feeling

Underpainting for interior, 14x11 oil on panel

      I have continued my tonal paintings in the hope that I will end up with two that I feel pleased enough with to send to the Black and White Show at the Salmagundi Club in NYC.  I have turned my attention to the space in my house where the bulk of  my time is spent.  I want to do more than simply record the space.  I love it here, this is home, this is where I paint and am surrounded by books, paintings and objects I love. A recording of it is not enough.  Years ago when I studied interior design (decided it wasn't for me and didn't follow through) we were taught to paint and draw interiors but that kind of work would not suffice here. How, with just a tube of Holbein's sepia and titanium white do I express how I feel in this space?  I have been revisiting Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Sargent to name a few.  There is a soul to the spaces they have painted. 
     
      I know what my goal is but succeeding is another matter.  To the left is the underpainting which was done on a white panel.  You will see that it is an enlargement of the little 8x6 study I showed you a couple of posts ago.  You are looking into the room that opens into my studio.  They are separated by glass pocket doors that I usually keep open so it is one continuous space.  There is a short step up from my studio.  I am standing at the easel and this is what I see everyday.  Behind me are large windows facing north, east and south.  In this room the window and the window alluded to in the painting are facing north.

In Progress and almost complete

Today I got this far on the painting and feel I need to step back a bit.  It needs some finishing but part of that finishing might be a "fuzzing" up of things, not so much a clarification.  I don't want to get too precise.  I am not cataloguing my space I am trying to infuse it with what I feel looking into it.  Getting picky about the pattern of the rug is not going to accomplish what I want here.  It is hard to describe what I mean but the light tells the story.  OK, I'm getting cryptic.  Artists can be a real bore when they start talking too much about what they are painting.  I will know what I mean when I see it and hopefully you will too.  I will continue to do more of these interiors but I am beginning to be eager to get back to color.
   
    Even though I am pretty sure most of you won't be reading this until after the holidays I want to wish all of you who drop in here for a visit a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a most HAPPY HANUKKAH!http://www.jeanschwartzpaintings.com/