Portrait in Oil

         This is one of the pieces I am working on. A Portrait of a beautiful girl. Zakiya is my babysitter and very kindly agreed to let me paint her portrait. I am hoping if I blog about it, that will give me the push I need to finish it. Sometimes the creative instincts flow, other times, like this past few weeks it feels like I am trying to force blood from a stone. All I know for sure is that a day without painting is a miserable one, soon as I paint, draw or sculpt it feels like a great big mean noisy pteradactyl has lifted off my shoulders.

Zakiya, Oil on Canvas 18"x 24"

Painting Leaves

This is another quick one, longer than I would have hoped but I decided to use a glaze and for that I needed the first layers of paint to dry. I found a leaf, dry, dead I suppose but in its demise it caught my eye. Dry yet the colours seems so vibrant. I like to paint from life, it is so much more rewarding than working from photo's. So I stuck the leaf to the wall in front of my easel and painted it. I am happy with the result. I have been thinking a lot lately about solitude, and how I find being an artist is very much a solitary pursuit. This painting is more about solitude than a sketch of a dry leaf. Artist and subject, all else fades away for the process.

I Stuck a Leaf to my Wall, Oil on Fabriano Paper, 19"x 14"