"lakhota proud"

back in early october i posted a nearly-done photo of this painting. i decided at the time that i didn't like it and put it on the shelf. the other day i came across it and decided that i did, after all, like it. so i added some stuff and lifted some stuff, reinforced some stuff, and lightened some stuff..........and came out with this. the lesson here is not to throw anything out until it has aged a bit and one can look at it with "fresh" eyes. the change in one's opinion can be surprising. of course, sometimes one's initial opinion holds up....then , i suppose, it does become one for the bin.

a brief word on the shapes along both upper sides of the painting may be due.  i looked up a variety of pictographs from digs and finds in north america. i drew the shapes that i liked and those that had a known meaning on small pieces of foam core. i then followed those lines drawing with a thick bead of that craft glue "tacky glue" in the brown bottle that i am sure most have seen in craft and hobby stores. this dried leaving a slightly resilient raised line. since it was water soluble i sprayed it with fixative to seal both the glue line and the foam core. to make a mark i simply painted thickish watercolor paint onto the design and pressed it onto the watercolor paper. i spritzed each of them with small droplets of water to varying degrees to loosed them up and teased a few drips down the page for both looseness and interest. this is what i got. i can't take credit for this.....dale kendrick showed me this technique many, many moons ago during one of his workshops.....a great artist and wonderful instructor. may he rest in peace.

"lakhota proud" (13"X16")