With And Then the Lights Went Out, a 9×12 inch oil on paper painting, I wanted to explore the sudden, dramatic shift from luminous clarity into sudden shadow and psychological suspense. Through this painting, I sought to capture the visceral shock of darkness descending over a vibrant environment, utilizing aggressive palette knife scrapes, dense impasto layering, and a high-contrast chromatic palette.
Created as an original oil on paper painting measuring 9×12 inches, the piece features a heavy, dark black structural framework descending over a fiery central core of hot pink and red, surrounded by energetic fields of warm yellow, burnt orange, and cool teal-blue. I applied heavy, directional palette knife drags and raking line techniques across the paper to give the oil medium a raw, electric momentum that echoes power failures, dramatic endings, and sudden shifts in mood.
