I'm finally satisfied with the napkin. Also did a little finishing work here and there.
And at long last, the painting I did of last year's New Year's Eve. It seems fitting to end the painting year with this one.
I can't seem to get the shadow areas right on skin, but I continue to try. The overcast skies in New York City don't help, either; things tend to have less contrast than if they had a strong, direct light source.
I like the way the eye meanders through this one from top to bottom. Worked mostly on the midsections, adding color to the water reflections in both opaque and transparent applications. But it's easy to get lost— I load the brush, and then try to remember where the next stroke is going.
I had hoped to get this next piece finished before the new year, but in careful scrutiny it needs to have many small areas cleaned up, particularly the dark vertical lines in the tower and some of the glass bottles. So I shall just have to complete it in 2022.
I feel like I'm in some sort of unfocused limbo; the days are starting to run together, and staying home to avoid the virus isn't helping matters, either.
Today's work:
Some bits and pieces that, upon close inspection, still need to be resolved.
Next,
On to something new:
And finally:
29 paintings completed this year. Some are large, some are small. Some are better than others, but at least I had a productive year.
I like this little one:
A little Creme Brulee for the New Year. I still have to modify that napkin, but everything else is done.
We still have New Year's to get through, not that it needs getting through, as such; I'm just having a hard time settling down to work. The week between Christmas and New Year's always feels like a lost one to me, and not a regular work week.
That having been said, the only piece I've felt like painting today has been a re-do of Sky Series B-2. I modified a lot of the cloud structure and color, and made the very lowest bottom area of the clouds a deeper, warmer red-violet. I'm happy with the way it looks.
