First Sketch

    I'm not sure about the moon, yet. But I'm thinking about it!

A Few Adjustments

Calling it

I'm going to call this done, at least for now. This is the point where I start fussing too much and can easily cause myself a lot more work. So, I'll live with it for a while. When I'm pretty sure it's ok, I'll take a good photo and put it on Instagram. But you saw it here first! 

  And in the meantime, there is this! It looks like a moon, doesn't it? Hm...
I don't exactly know what I'm going to do yet, but I can guarantee there won't be so much skin work in this one!

How about this?

I am really, really hoping I like his face tomorrow. 

Fresh eyes

Well, I took a day away from it, and gave it a go this morning. I think turning his head really helped, and I like that his gaze is turned away, too. I hope this works.I'm ready for a new one!

Lessons (Re-)Learned

   When I finished grad school, I swore I would never rush to finish a piece to make it into a show again. How did I forget that? Another lesson, gleaned from Toy Story during the scene when Woody gets a make over, is that you can't rush art. No kidding.
    I poured on the hours, and I thought it looked pretty good on my easel, but when I couldn't get a good photo during the last hours of the late afternoon, I had to admit I was going to have to pull my new painting from the line-up for the competition I am entering. It just wasn't ready, and I wanted to put my best foot forward. So, there it is. I erred on the side of not rushing. Honestly, I just can't figure out how to make the guy look good yet. I'll get there, but I guess it is going to take some time.
    I might give it a bit of a break, and come back at it later with fresh eyes.
    But I know it is going to bother me until I solve it :/

...and then this happened

I just couldn't stand the guy's face. I hope I like this in the morning.

Closer

Geez, I feel like I'm in grad school again, racing for a deadline. I'm still not happy with the man or the little girl, and the robe (well, probably every area) needs highlights. I still have 28 hours to get it right. Wish me luck.

The Small Brushes

    Even though I'm still working on some larger areas (medium brush work) the small brushes are out and the refining has begun. Someday I should keep a log of my palette, because it goes from big piles of wet mush in the beginning to tons of little dry strokes at the end. I'm doing two sessions a day. I think I'm going to make it.

     

Coming up for air

Well, that was a tricky semester. I'm really hoping I will get to be back in my classroom next fall. It's hard to tell at this point. 

    But, the Tubman project is carrying on! We are getting started with the final plans for materials and locations for the decals. I've been experimenting with different presentations. These are a couple of the options. Plus, I'm trying out making sidewalk chalk paint to use on some stencil versions of the images, so we can have some on the ground as well.

    I'm glad the online semester is over, and looking forward to having regular studio time again. To give myself a motivational kick,  I've decided to enter the family painting in a contest. I haven't done anything like that in a while, and I figure it might be a good time to do it. One bonus is that I'm going to have to put the pedal to the metal and get it done. I think I can do it.