All Day

    I've been fussing away at this guy's face for a while now. In the session before this one, I pretty much painted out the whole thing. After about three sessions today, this is where he is. He looks much gentler now. This is half paint and half pastel. I had to get the blue out again. And a little bit of black. But now, I think I like him. Pretty much.

Better late than never

It finally came! I've been waiting for this for a long time. Not to put too fine a point on it, but since November 16, to be exact.

    This is a really stiff litho ink that is part of the recipe for roll up ink that I got while I was at Zygote last summer. I failed miserably at trying to make do without it. 

     When I was a kid and took too long at something, my dad would say, "What did you have to do, milk the cow?" This was actually kind of true for Graphic Chemical & Ink Co. this time, because they actually make the ink and they had to wait on a particular kind of varnish.

     I guess there isn't anything stopping me from going in to my classroom and trying it out. Except for the pile of grading and student emails. Still, it's something to look forward to. My teacher Rebekah says she likes to print litho alone. I guess I'll find out if I do, too!

Close ups

   Believe it or not, it took almost the entire day yesterday to get groceries. Apparently, curbside pickup is only a fantasy on the store's part as well as mine.

   But, I did get to go look at my painting at least, to see how the paint settled since the last time I painted, and fix a few things with my trusty orange pastel pencil, to mark the way for my next session.  

    Usually, my painting sessions end because I have the feeling that I might be going too far, and I stop because I don't want to cause myself more headaches than necessary. That was a lesson I learned the hard way. 

    So, most of the time when I stop, I'm not sure if I stopped soon enough or not. Maybe it just takes some time to be able to see the progress. Sometimes I think there is some magic happening as the paint dries, because I'm always a bit surprised to see how it looks after a day or so.

    This piece is probably a bit difficult to see when it isn't cropped, so I thought I'd post some detail shots. They are only a little fuzzy when you zoom in on them.

      Be well. Stay safe.