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 In junior high, I read a book called “The Sorcerer” by Joseph Bato, which led me down a rabbit hole researching the cave paintings of Lascaux and the Cave of the Trois-Frères. I was struck by the simplicity and power of those images—created by artists who relied solely on direct observation of the animals they lived with and depended upon.

During college, I began a series of paintings inspired by these archetypal images, and I’ve revisited the idea several times as my style—and my range of materials—has evolved. While I’ve worked in oils, watercolor, and acrylic, I never found a paint that could produce a truly velvety black. Dry media like charcoal came close, but created problems during varnishing. Too often, the pigment would reactivate and spread or float to the surface. I remember finishing one test piece, applying varnish, and then watching over the next hour as black blobs slowly spread across the image—not fun!

I’d heard about Spectrafix casein spray fixative from several sources and finally decided to put it to the test. I prepared a series of swatch sheets using Derwent Inktense pencils and blocks, Charvin pastel painting sticks, and traditional willow charcoal. Portions of each swatch were blended with water, then allowed to dry before applying a light coat of Spectrafix.

Once the fixative had set, I was able to rub the surface quite firmly without lifting pigment—except in the heaviest charcoal areas, which remained slightly powdery. I then applied a layer of acrylic varnish. The results were impressive: no visible reactivation, and even the finest dry lines held their edges without bleeding.

Various media with layer of Spectrafix and varnish

After these promising results, I moved on to a canvas piece. I began with an acrylic underpainting on paper mounted to canvas, then used the Derwent and Charvin materials for the initial sketch. One thing I discovered was that applying gel medium to both sides of the paper made the surface somewhat slick; in later versions, I applied it only to the underside. 

One of the most striking aspects of these materials is how much pigment is released when activated with water. The charcoal produced beautifully deep blacks, and even the white showed surprising opacity even when applied lightly. 

The final piece incorporates additional layers of acrylic and metallic paint, while still preserving some of the grainy texture of the dry media. Even in those areas, a single coat of Spectrafix successfully stabilized the surface so the varnish could be applied without disturbing the underlying layers.

I’m excited to have added a new combination of materials to my toolkit and am continuing to explore it within my Archetypes series. You can view additional samples here: Stacy Lewis - Portfolio of Works: Archetypes

In 2006, I set out to paint a study of a gardenia bloom—and discovered that it was occupied!

At the time, I was just starting to paint. Most of my work had been drawing and illustration, and I was still thinking very much inside the box when it came to “serious” painting subjects. One book I read listed only three categories: landscapes, botanicals, and human figures. Not a single animal painting appeared in its pages. I assumed that the animal artists I admired—Charles R. Knight comes to mind—were considered illustrators rather than painters. (I know much better now.)

I decided to try a botanical study of a gardenia bloom from a shrub in front of the house. But once I got it onto the kitchen table, I noticed the sprig was the residence and nursery of a lime green jumping spider.

I’ve always been far more interested in animals than plants, and this was something I had never seen before. On closer examination, I discovered she was guarding her nest—a flat silk patch like a small blanket attached to the underside of a leaf. Gardenias have very waxy leaves, so could function as an efficient umbrella. I quickly finished my study, then carefully wired the gardenia sprig (with its small passenger) back onto the bush. 

I learned two things from that incident. I learned that the spider was a Magnolia green jumper (Lyssomanes viridis), common in the southeastern United States. More importantly, I realized that, to my eyes, no flower—no matter how beautiful—could compete with something as fascinating as a green jumping spider. Ever since, I’ve taken my animal painting seriously.

I still have that painting.

Hummingbirds are famous for their iridescent feathers, which shift color depending on the angle of light. That shimmering effect is the result of structural coloration, which was the theme of my recent painting demonstration at the Museum of Life & Science’s Biotech event in Durham.

Structural color is responsible for many of nature’s most dramatic iridescent effects. Instead of coming from pigments alone, these colors are created by microscopic structures that bend, scatter, or interfere with light. Hummingbirds, butterflies, beetles, and even some fish use these tiny structures to reflect specific wavelengths of light, creating vivid colors that can shift depending on the viewing angle. Blue Morpho butterfly wings and peacock feathers are famous examples of this effect.

Artists use interference paints to produce similar effects. These are almost transparent on white paper except when the viewing angle reveals the flash of color, because the paper is bouncing the incoming light back to the viewer. The flash of color is still visible, but it’s diluted by all of that reflected light. On black paper, much less light is reflected, so the color flash becomes the dominant thing you see. 

Interference paint swatches on white and black paper

Some interference paints include color pigments as well, but I prefer the versions without pigment. This allows me to create very customized color effects. For example, the throat feathers—or gorget—of the Lucifer Hummingbird appear magenta, but can flash blue or even bronze depending on the light. The study below layered blue and magenta pigments with red and blue interference colors. Green pigments and interference colors were used on the body and head. I took the photos with the light at different angles - the blue lines on the second image highlight the more reflective areas.

Study of Lucifer Hummingbird

I’m already developing the next paintings in this series and am looking forward to discovering more of the remarkable color effects that nature creates through structural color!

Works in progress (left to right): Red-Tailed Comet, Green Violet Ear and Booted Racket Tail