Stoked - Part II

Okay - this is my first attempt at uploading a picture to the blog. It looks like it worked okay.

What you see above is my very first painting and it is in the very earliest stages of preparation. Because I don't think I really understood what 'underpainting' really is until after the class (and I had time to reflect on what I saw and learned), what you see is a very preliminary outline of what I'm working toward. What I have to do next is wash over the whole surface with a thin, neutral color - hopefully thin enough so that the darker areas I have mapped out already will show through. Then I can re-darken and then add highlights to map the lighter areas. When the underpaint is done, it should look like a relatively complete, but monocolor , painting.

The end result will be far more colorful. I hope.

My next class is the first Wednesday in November (it was NOT my decision to skip next Wednesday, but everbody else seemed to think it was important to be home for Halloween ;>) ). By that time I should be finished with the underpaint. If so, I will update this diary with another picture of the picture. So far, the working name of my piece is "Call me Ishmael". It will probably change by the time it's done - my son says the name sounds 'a little borrowed'. I think he means pretentious. Perhaps it is - but it helps me set the mood.