Better

At least now she has a neck!

Scored a Couple of Gigs For My Students

   A few days ago I mentioned that my students will be making silhouettes with Harriet Tubman as the subject. I found out this week that their work will be part of the printed program for the Harriet Tubman event we are preparing for, and will also be used in a couple of ways during the She Persisted exhibit next fall, in honor of the anniversary of the 19th Amendment. We have a lot of work to do, but we are going to hit the ground running and do our best. We are very lucky to have this opportunity. I will post our progress.

Some Changes

   I'm not sure what came over me, but after all that time being happy with the mother having no face, I decided to add one after all. I've flipped back and for between this image and the last one I posted (there were quite a few intermediate versions) and I'm still not sure which one I like best.

     This is in a bit of a tricky spot, because I don't have a direct reference shot for the top third of the painting. I don't mind winging, but I worry that the styles between the two parts won't match.

      I also don't exactly know what the man will look like yet, either. But, I'm making progress, one session at a time.

Updates

   Well, I'm back at school, but I am trying to fit some easel time in when I can. Yesterday, I was able to work for almost 20 minutes. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it was enough to settle myself and also to work on refining the shadows in the pregnancy painting. There is a lot of paperwork to do in the first week of the semester, so I'm hoping I will get more time on a regular basis. I think I will.
    In the meantime, my classes are doing a project based on the life of Harriet Tubman, a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Tubman escaped to freedom herself, and then went back to the plantations many times to help others escape. She also worked as a spy for the Union during the Civil War, as well as having duties as a nurse and a cook. She topped off her career with work as a suffragette and helped bring the 19th Amendment into being. My community and school are focusing on Tubman as part of the centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment. My students will be making silhouettes with Tubman as the subject. We are just getting started, but I will share their progress as it happens.
     In other news, litho is stalled, because Graphic Chemical has still not sent the very stiff Senefelder's ink that I ordered way back in November. We are stuck without it. I've called and inquired again, but I'm just about ready to cancel the order and get it from Takach.  I'd hate to do that, but I don't want to wait too much longer to print. I'm worried I will forget something about the process!
  

Making hay

I'm trying to fit in as many sessions as I can, because Monday, school starts. There are lots of projects cooking, and I'm worried that this work will probably start to take a back seat to everything else. It's time to make hay while the sun shines, I guess.

   Every time I sit down to work, I'm reminded of how much of my process depends on drawing. That isn't the only way to make paintings, but it's the way that works for me. 

   Next up, I'll focus on the mom's neck area and her left hand. And then I think I'll be just about ready to let the paint get a little fatter.

Stages

I like the baby better, now. One time, one of my profs told me my work always looked terrible until all of a sudden it didn't. I reckon I'm in that stage right now. But, I'm starting to see how it will be in the end. It's just a long road to get there.

Got out the big brush

Well, tonight I got tired of seeing all that blue skin, so I got out the big brush and put a really thin wash of the beginning under layers of their skin. That light blotch on the girl's jaw is a good example of what happens when you are too impatient to let the first wash dry before the next one is applied. I've been here many times. It was my cue to quit for the night.

    Honestly, I really wish I hadn't started the girl's face, yet. I'm not happy with it, and now I'll probably dream about it all night. Maybe it'll help me fix it in the morning.

    Anyway, while I was working, the memory of the painting below came back to me because of the robot hands and their similarity to the man's hands in the new painting. I think it is just a coincidence, but it is an interesting one.

I have another really old painting, one of my first, that has the same theme as my current piece. I'll see if I can get a photo of that to post.

    Happy New Year to all. My resolution is to plant as many good seeds as I can this year. And to keep working on my posture :)