finishing up: "i am lakhota" and "new life" (now known as "wonder")

"i am lakhota"

i have finally finished both of the above paintings ans have vowed to myself not to let this much time elapse before finishing a painting project ever again. it was very difficult for me to maintain my concentration and enthusiasm. i think both of them came out okay...the "new life" one which i think i am going to call "wonder" may have turned out a little better than "i am lakhota". that would have been the opposite from what i would have wished for before the final brush strokes were applied, but.....oh, well. i did correct the shadows on marlene's shirt but the whole thing still came off a bit too loose. i do like the face however, on which i further modeled the light side with a bit more blush on her cheeks with the alizarin crimson permanent and quinacridone gold (with just a touch of cobalt blue) and a #8 round. the clothing shadows were coming out more angular than i liked so i changed from a 3/4" flat to a #12 round and was happier with the softer more organic stroke.

"wonder"

on "wonder" i just finished up the background on the left of the picture by indicating the cross bracing with darker washes of cobalt blue and burnt sienna using a 3/4" flat brush. i dried, splayed the same brush and painted the grain on the boards with a relatively thick mix of mineral violet. the cracks and such were painted with a #4 round using ivory black and the edges catching the light were scraped white with a single edged razor blade.  that about finished that one off and i posted it to wet canvas about a month late!