Where are the eagles and the trumpets?

Lots of new projects under way here:  playing around with a 'skyline' theme for a Studio12 show next year, and also getting back to my less definite shapes and shadows of people in doorways and windows.  Playing also with some urban landscapes too, but these are still at sketchbook phase.  Also went to life drawing today (the first time since last Autumn I think).  Good good.  And no eagles or trumpets.  Yet.

oil sketches

are done!  Putting the lemon turps away now, and getting back to the kinder but less effective (when lifting off pigment) odourless solvent

Circumambulations cede something at last

I should stop reading Eliot really:  between his Greek and his metaphysics and his neologisms (which I'm sure he pretends aren't), I have the same feelings about his words as I do about oil paint.  Mmmm.  Needed two days of absolute concentration to get the balance between the three sorted, and so we had poor(ish) weather to help keep me away from the mountains of pruning and weeding the block has been muttering about for the last few weeks.  Delighted with this.

Had some time left to play a bit with the oil sketches too!

backgrounds

tonal balance

We're on to the bit I think I like best, playing with glazes to adjust skin tones and modelling bone structure.  Still not quite sure about the background on this.  Might have to bite the bullet and learn how to create masks in Photoshop so I can experiment with different colours and tones.  There's a bit of me that wants to have a Rembrandt-dark background to make the faces really glow, but at this stage I really don't know.  Want to get it started soonish, as it'll have an impact on what I'm doing with the colours of some of the shadows.

Lovely boost as well on Friday, when the portrait of Mona Hunter won the Portrait of a Senior Territorian Art Award.  And thanks, Bean for the above pic.

From Left to Right

siblings in progress