Sometimes The Journey Is Better Than The Destination

  I finished the painting I've been telling you about. Adding some geometry to my style. Muddying the waters a bit more. Making it more difficult for people to pigeon hole my art. Mostly just to see if I could pull it off. Sometimes I set some limits on my tools to make things interesting. I once wanted to see if I could make flesh tones with just one yellow, one red, and one blue. I did three or four paintings that way. Three of them have slipped into the recesses of my mind. I have no idea what they were. One did make the cut though:

     It's called "Karen" and it's one of my favorites. It currently hangs over the fireplace of one of my biggest collectors.  And it looks great. I can usually pull something good out of these exercises. Sometimes I pull something great.
   So, back to the story. I've been working this painting for probably two weeks, maybe even a bit more. Paintings faces. Adding shapes. Working shadows in. A touch of color here, a bit more there. Lines. Shading. Letting it talk to me, telling me where to go next and what to do. Finally, it talked no more. I couldn't see anywhere else to go. I decided it must be done. I wasn't sure if I liked it. I waited three days before I would even show my wife. She really likes it. She told me stories about every face in the painting. A bit about their lives. It was really cool. For me it was the best part of the experience. I've been looking at it for a bit now. It's growing on me. It did give me an idea for my next step in my artistic progression. I'll keep it to myself for now, but I'm kinda stoked about it. Anyhow, here's the painting:

"Everyone Has A Prison"