I am a good cheerleader for myself. When I'm working on a painting, you might hear me talking to myself softly, saying, "Well, he's coming along."
The he in question here is Zeus, a lovely dog who belongs to my friend Dana. And while I don't know Zeus well, he is pretty strongly set into my thoughts these days. He comes along with me wherever I go; you might see me staring out into space sometimes lately while I try to figure out how to capture the brindled colors of the fur near his right eye. The photo above is a not-quite finished version. But it's close. This morning I've been puzzling over the details of his snout, Dana's hands, and those tags...If I am lucky, I will grab another hour this afternoon, and he will be done! What fun it has been getting to know him.
I must say that it amazes me that he even looks like a dog. I am not an artist by training, but I am one by will. This year marks 10 years of my practice with drawing and painting, and I feel as though I have more projects in my mind than ever. And lucky me, a few of them are close to completion! Zeus shares my thoughtspace and studio with 3 other paintings that are also "coming along." It is a quiet thrill that I carry them in my head as I go through my day...
UPDATE
Esme's naptime gave me chance to put the finishing touches, et voila!
Here is Zeus, just waiting to be signed and put in the frame. It feels great to finish a project.
UPDATE Again! Okay, I'm obsessed. Here he is, done, framed, signed. Whee! The last step is to get some nice giclee prints done so I have some copies. Now to get the skin tones blocked in on the beach painting.....
