Well, the chatter from classes is dying down in my head, at least when I'm awake, and the quiet of the studio is drawing me in. I ended up standing in front of this painting for a while, and saw it with fresh(er) eyes.
I was pretty much ready to give up on this painting. I have been feeling like I had completely lost the thread of it. The last time I posted about this piece, I was considering the nest idea, and I had sketched them in. I'll admit I was a little intimidated by the idea of drawing nests. Between then and now, my inventive sculpture students made their own nests. The images of their work is still in my eyes, and they are helping me make sense of the construction.
All but one of the nests my students made were traditional cup nests, made out of sticks and grass and various found objects. The other one was a leap forward in concept, although I'm not sure the artist was conscious of it at the time. It was unique because it was constructed out of 1/4" armature wire, lined with some sheets of tissue. The idea of this traditionally cozy place being made of metal and a fragile material like tissue struck me as brilliant. I will admit, I am tempted to steal the idea :)
Here's why I probably won't: The little figures are demons, so their skin will be blue. They were a joy to work on today. It's such a relief to draw what I want! Anyway, if the nest is metallic grays, the demons won't be very visible. I could make an argument for that, because baby birds are brown in brown nests; it's good camouflage. But not necessarily good composition. And that will most likely win.
