Section 9-Eye of God

The sketch

Figures done, blue being put in

I  was amazed to get some painting done during Christmas week. I was satisfied that I was able to keep busy and not let the holidays bog down my production.

I really wanted to do a do a silly and more immature panel. I needed a college hazing part two.  They're putting diapers on each others heads and having a rowdy good time. With this picture I really wanted the main emphasis to be the Animal House like mood of the piece. I decided to do three main circles in the middle of the picture as a storytelling and compositional tool. In my sketch I expected trees. But the sketch was different than the panel. In the sketch the three circles reached more of the bottom of the sketch. When I painted I put the circles more in the middle. I had more space to deal with. At first I started painting trees. Within two minutes of painting the trees I changed my mind. The picture looked too heavy. I decided I wanted to have more of a light and weightless state. So I painted

clouds instead. Clouds generally never fail.  I think of Bob Haozous who used clouds as a main staple in his work.There's a lot to be said about them. I think it's because clouds are very meditative and all encompassing. There's a wonder and  a great awe-inspiring marvellousness.

The sketch

The main figures skin painted in

The characters and frame done

   I drew the eye and lips of the main character and I realized I wanted blond hair on him.I hadn't done peroxide blond yet. I've done some blond highlights in some of the works. They looked somewhat campy. I  really think the hair adds an air of weirdness. It reminds me of the Wallace and Ladmo painting I did a month ago with Gerald in a similar hair style. With this picture I wanted to remain simple with trees and a couple of figures. Two of the three characters in front have black hair. I still wanted to retain that essential Egyptian look. But I also added a sandy blonde person to balance the picture.  I wanted a soft muted grey look for the trees. I was reminded of Luc Tuymans while doing the trees. He has that type of color palette in his pictures. The picture seemed a little stagnant.I did away with the symmetry and added a frame on the right side. It adds a bit of a jolt to the work.