Following the Haiti earthquake last month I saw a photo that spoke to me in its beauty and hope amidst so much sorrow and destruction. The colors and everything about the photo encouraged me to try a painting.
I've found the element of personal connection with a possible subject and a wanting to express what I see in an image has to be part of painting it. That is what got me started in the gesture drawings of my 16 grandchildren over a period of a year.
So here it is. It really has been delightful to paint it. As Polly is likely to point out, I painted it when I was home with shingles and listening to a couple of audio books downloaded from the library, a Willa Cather and something else. So I was in good company. I finished it listening to "The Help," a story of black maids working for white families in Jackson, Mississippi in 1963. This is the first time that I've painted most of a piece at home and then gone to class for critique and advice.
So here it is:
This view shows the wrapped canvas edges as well as a better view without so much graininess in the photo.
As with most of the work I've been doing, I paint random splotches of primary colors on the surface, spray alcohol to disperse the paint and water if there still needs to be more liquid and then start tilting to let the colors run over the paper/canvas till I get a base of color. At the finish I used caran d ache, a type of watercolor crayon to pull up the baby's face as well as some parts of the mother's hand and face that I couldn't get with a paint brush.
I like painting in a larger size and liked the wrapped canvas so I don't have a framing cost.
Ned's and Nedra's kitchen table has been perfect for my painting studio.
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