Still Not Done Yet!

Time just goes racing by when you're busy. I still have a few more sessions to go before the Shakesperience painting is finished (a "session" usually averages four hours, ranging between two and six hours). Sooo close to being finished.... One major challenge has been the small details, particularly in depicting the actors on the stage. I bought the smallest brushes I could find back in September, and they're a big help, but for the faces I really need even smaller brushes. I've been encouraged to swipe a whisker or two from my cats, which is an idea I might very well follow up on.

Here's how the Shakesperience painting looked before I started working on it. All of my paintings start out with a grid drawing. I'm experimenting with doing a first layer in an umber wash. For some compositions, it's very helpful. For this painting, I think it wasn't really necessary.

Building Suspense

I'm crazy-busy with work right now, averaging 12 hours a day (my legs are getting cramped from sitting at my desk so much), but every time I walk through my living room, I find myself pausing to look at my as-yet unfinished painting of the first Shakespeare in Library Park performance. It's coming out great. Since I'm still relatively new at this, every painting presents new challenges. And, with every painting, I get better and better.

The last time I worked on was at the weekend. I started painting the actors on the stage, but I had to stop for a few days to let the paint dry before finishing the actors (at the moment, most of them haven't got faces, and at least one is missing an arm). The audience is still an empty void, surrounded by a rather lovely green lawn.

This weekend, I'll finish the actors and start on the audience. If my work-schedule lightens next week, I might actually finish soon.