Today I got a good amount of work done on this second piece for the West Annapolis Artworks Summer Show. I'll be installing these two pieces with Su, the gallery owner, on either Friday or Saturday, depending on when I finish.
I'm really enjoying the watercolor or "batik" effect of the layered paint washes in this series. I can't tell you how much easier it is to have a limited palette, yet I get more drama with the lights and darks than I ever did with the heavy handed paint and brushwork in previous work. The gallery manager, Mia, over at the Maryland Federation of Art told me the other day that she loves the broad range of my work...I told her that essentially translates into the fact that I work bipolar. I'm pretty steady in my real life, but when it comes to my art, I either love full-on saturated color or very little at all. Go figure. I guess I don't do anything half-assed or in-between. That's good, right?
Here are three photos for you today. First is the photo I'm working from. I always use black and white photos because I am not a colorist. I tend to build my lights and shadows then go from there rather than start light and add dark or start dark and later lighten up. Second is my sketch with first layers of acrylic going down. The third photo is about two hours into my efforts today. I only had about three hours today, and will not have a full studio day until Friday. I'm behind after almost a week of travel. But, I'm refreshed and recharged and very excited about completing this piece up this week.
6x9 photo I'm working from
about 30 minutes in
Two hours in today
I'm going to have this one finished by Friday afternoon so stay tuned for in-progress photos. As always, thank you for plugging along with me :)