Good Evening! I hope that your holidays were joyful and relaxing.
We had an eventful week here last week as strep throat descended on the house and again, things for the week were severely boogered up. So, today, the day after Christmas, now that everyone is well, I'm able to get to work on "Clam Digger". I had prepped my canvas ages ago with a Payne's Gray and Titanium White mixed with a tiny speck of a lavender color. The exact name of the hue escapes me now, months later. Although I'm having a hard time thinking straight as I made bread this afternoon and just took that yeasty deliciousness out of the oven...it smells so good that my brains are a bit scrambled at present. Making Pear Jam this evening and will be eating a good deal of the bread and jam with my brood tonight. We've been eating cookies and party food for two weeks now, so what's one more night of naughty gonna hurt?
I've gotten the initial sketch of Clam Digger onto my prepped canvas. There are two photos here. The first is the pencil sketch, then the other is me going over the pencil with ink. I do this for two reasons. Reason one is that pencil comes off very easily as soon as I start painting over my sketch, and I don't want to lose my lines. Second, and primary reason, really, is that I like the ink showing through from underneath. You might have noticed that I scribble on my finished composition...Perhaps it's just me letting go after the more controlled strokes have been laid down and the painting is obviously finished. I like the linear qualities, how they change after I add in the ink or artists paint pens to loosen up my paintings. It's become a signature look for me and I've gotten lots of positive feedback as it's kind of, if not mostly, unique to my work. Other artists use scribbles too, but more uniformly throughout the work, not just at the end, overtop of something else.
Anyhow, here you go:
Sketch in pencil. Wood floor, wood barstool and wood top island Sheesh. If my house ever caught on fire, i'd be up *&%* creek without a paddle.
I always do my sketches in the kitchen. The light is south facing from a big window...and I can cook in between steps while getting the sketch layered up...
Clam Digger with Ink over the Pencil. Not sure if anyone else preps a painting like this. I seem to do things the hard way...
Thank you for looking. Will have more for your tomorrow after some running around. Last day for the MFA Holiday Gallery is tomorrow, so I need to pick up Tangled Up In Blue and bring her home. Very excited, as she is the only pairing my hubby has every really shown an interest in having, so I may just put her in the MBR.
We've got a fire in the kitchen fireplace going now. I wish I could send you some smells!
Hope you enjoy your evening!
***My eleven year old just asked me is Clam Digger is John Henry....Maybe he is?