...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.

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.