“Classical Blues”

I’ve been working on this painting off and on for about 5 months.  A friend gave me a watercolor canvas to try so I thought, “what the heck”, give it a shot using fluid acrylics.  I won’t be using it again.  The paint floats on top of the canvas, I much prefer the absorption of paper allowing more detailed work.  The canvas worked great for the more fluid background washes.  I was able to layer multiple glazes and get that old world feeling for the steps.  I saw this fellow in Florence, Italy, several years ago playing in a piazza totally absorbed in his music.  It was magical.  The photo I used was taken at a much wider angle showing lots of people wandering and sitting behind him.  However, I preferred cropping it to create a more intimate moment – a man and his music.   Cropping out the top of his head created some interesting negative spaces for a better composition.  This is 18″ x 24″.  It was a challenging experience …. think I’ll return to using paper now 😉

Will be posting more often now that summer is over.  I love winter, I get to hide out in my studio and paint!!