This diptych was commissioned and inspired by the piece Sin Fronteras. I started the pieces by choosing pieces of paper from one of my old almanacs, then ripping and gluing them onto the wood panel. It’s pretty rare that I work directly on a raw wood surface without priming it with gesso first but that was part of what the client liked and wanted. So I began adding thin layers of acrylic paint so that I did not cover up all the wood texture.
I then used different colored pencils to add interesting marks throughout the piece, some of which I knew would end up being covered up.
Next I glued down a few pieces of masking tape to add to the composition. I then unified the piece with the black paint section through the middle. The more opaque black area was done in acrylic paint. The areas that look almost like a satellite view of a map were done with pan pastel using a stencil, I added the stenciled areas so that there would not be an abrupt outline where the black pieces ended.
I included this photo to show the diptych together.
Here is the pair hanging in their new home!