Day 4, still painting - and LOVING it!
Yesterday I had about forty-five minutes at the table again before heading out. I tried to continue Frida's face from Day 3 but it just wasn't happening.
So I picked up a piece I started in early February but never finished (also seen here when I blogged about Art-making Mantra #2):
work in progress, 12x12 on cardboard
The piece has been sitting on my studio shelf for five weeks. I liked the movement and lines in it so I kept it out hoping I'd eventually see - perhaps in a sudden flash of inspiration - how I could transform them into something interesting.
A few weeks ago I borrowed a kid's art book from the library called Looking at Pictures. On the very last page I flipped to a photo of Cézanne's Bathers. Bing! My inspiration.
Bathers by Paul Cézanne
Fast-forward to Day 4. After a fruitless try at Frida's facial features with about a half hour left I finally pulled out my library book with Cézanne's picture, my pastels (water-soluble) and a photo of another painting, by Degas this time for good measure, called The Tub. And I played.
No perfection necessary, just fluid lines loosely transformed into a woman's shape:
still a work in progress - now inspired by Cézanne, 12x12 on cardboard
Lesson learned: Even a small half hour can make a big difference.