Today I'm finally able to take some time to work in the studio again. The new semester has begun with a bang - that's a good thing! I have lots of students, plus I'm teaching two evening classes - one in SAT, and one in pastels. It's fun to be able to use the studio for both purposes. It's such an awesome space. I love it that it's so versatile.
I've begun working on two different canvases. One of the pictures is of the model for Curves. It has a lovely dynamism to it that attracts me to it. When I photographed her, the focus was on her experience of loving her body, feeling empowered and full of positive feelings about her beautiful self. I think this image evokes that powerfully. I'm looking forward to painting it. Its drawn on the canvas already - I hope to have time to begin painting it soon.
The other canvas is the largest one I've done to date. It's 6'x4' and is of two full figures with faces. A couple of months ago I wrote about the experience of photographing a friend of mine with her sister and her sister's daughter. It was incredibly fun because they were so joyful and fun to be around. I still smile whenever I think about the session! I've since learned that some of the laughter may have come from tension - anxiety about posing naked in front of someone they didn't know, not to mention in front of each other! - but I couldn't tell. They were playful and seemed fully at ease with themselves and each other. I got some fantastic shots I'm excited about painting. This first one is of the mother and daughter posing with athletic equipment! Sounds goofy, right? The daughter has a raquetball raquet which she is holding like a piece of merchandise on Price is Right, showing it to the audience to entice them to buy it. Her mom is holding a volleyball and is standing much more solidly on her two feet. Both are grinning at the camera and are intensely beautiful. I love the difference in their bodies - it gives a sense of what happens with age - and I love the difference in their stances. It is such a completely weird picture, I'm very excited about painting it. I'm working on transferring it to the canvas today. It's a long process because it's so large. I have a feeling that this picture will take a long time to paint because there are so many details - 4 hands, 4 feet, 2 wonderfully smiling faces with teeth (very challenging to paint!), not to mention the strings of the racquetball racquet! What was I thinking??!! Oh yeah - that this is a fabulous picture and I can't wait to paint it!
So here I go...
Check back for progress!
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