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In my bag of tricks I pack drawing materials, a limited supply of brushes and tubes of gouache. Here are the results of each month's date.
Pic from the first Artist Date |
On our second Artist Date, I brought with me a copy of a photograph that my daughter took of herself to use as inspiration. Here is the photocopy. It's a somewhat somber image. She captures herself in many different moods. I thought this image would be interesting to tackle both thematically and structurally.
Below is the small painting I did based on this photograph.
I decided on a brighter color palette and put down a basic background sketch using pencil. I made the decision at one point to open her eye because I thought the downward gaze would help me illustrate the mood of the image. We, as a family, have been through a lot in the last few months. I wanted to document this moment.
This past week, we met in MY studio for the first time. Boy was I excited to host the day. We all three have come to look forward to getting together to share our work and our lives. We can say anything and the other person doesn't judge. We 'get' each other implicitly. Weirdos like other weirdos. Hee hee.
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Gypsy the Studio cat! |
It turned out to be not the best idea. I am not Mark. Will never be Mark. I hated the painting. It didn't feel like me. The rectangles were all off or something. Couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe it was that I drank too much Prosecco? (wink)
In the end, I was so unhappy with the painting that I added this random tree. Why not? It is what it is for sure. One of my friends said that the painting reminded her of Jasper Johns, another painter from that time period. So hey, it's my Retro Art. Ha!
An artist's life can be very isolating. I think it is important to get out with other creative people. We feed each other. We validate each other. Sometimes...we just need to 'be' together, if nothing more than to realize that there are other weird people out there just like us! It's worth the effort. I promise.
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