Challenges

A challenge is a great way to learn, to stay fresh, and most importantly to play.  This painting was done for an on line challenge to paint with anything other than your favorite brush.  I choose to make my own brush. Twig, tape and hair from my very hairy canine companion, "Amistad". But, there is a second challenge involved in this process and that is direct painting.  That means no pencil and NO eraser. Dip brush in paint and simply paint.  I find the best way to accomplish this is to paint the negative shapes while being aware of their distance and relationship to one another.  In other words, forget that this is a face, but think of it as a series of interrelated shapes. Finally, go back and readjust adjust the values. While I am painting, I am always thinking about the lightness and darkness of things, but I usually need to go back and darken some areas.  The source of the brush hair is pictured below.  He was happy to make the donation in order to get his picture in my blog.