Back in the studio... painting

After years of putting it off, to concentrate on children's books, I finally returned to the basement painting studio. It wasn't easy, but I'm glad I did.

I decided to try a portrait... instead of a landscape. The underpainting is done with defining the shapes with a cloth instead of a paintbrush. Sort of a reverse establishment of the body of the figure.


Then the paint is added. I use acrylics and large bristle brushes... mostly the cheap ones from the hardware store. I just love the way they string out the brushstrokes into threads.


I did a photoshop study of the initial colors after the first 2 hours of painting had dried overnight. I added colors against the neutral backdrop of the underpainting.

The entire painting took about 4 hours.

It's good to paint again. I'm thinking it'd be the perfect occupation for 'retirement'... and who knows, someday I might even make some dough at it. I do have lots of ambitious plans for painting ideas.