Secret Admirer

While visitng his childhood home in Michigan in the fall of 2020,  David completed a piece he had been wanting to paint for some time, “Secret Admirer”.   

In David’s words,  “With the cancellation of nearly all shows this year,  the extra time has allowed me to approach some projects that have been awaiting my attention.  “Secret Admirer” is one such piece.  So much of my work being of a historical nature has a built in narrative.   Most of my audience has responded to these stories as a parallel modality of appreciation.   This work and the pieces in this series are NOT derived from any such things, they are solely based on the visual merits assembled within its composition.   For example the shapes of where the light hits the subject create a rhythmic progression to a crescendo at the focal point.  And my values (light&darks) are all aligned to build up contrast to magnify that same area.   The edges of where the shadow meets the lights are most defined at this same pinnacle of focus. 

So in layman’s terms, this painting is based on the inherent beauty of its interplay of shape and values.   Most of the finest paintings in the world are.  My lovely lady just happens to be in the right place at the right time!    So , I guess we can all secretly admire her now.