Ascending Spirit WIP

I haven't posted in quite a while because I have been working hard on this project but it is a slow and very new process for me, starting with the amount of thumbanils sketches needed to finally come up with an idea I was satisfied with. Thanks to the mentorship of Michael Newberry I have learned the importance that a piece have a reason and meaning for its creation.

This piece is not even close to being half way done and it needs corrections in what is done but I think the idea of where it is heading, is pretty clear. I still have to establish my vlaues, soften my folds and extend the lace to fill in that space it is in right now. I am truly enjoying this part now since I think compositon and light is on the way to being solved.

Charcoal on Rives paper 17x26

Finally on the way to a new piece.

I have not posted because I have been working hard on the inspiration stage of my mentor program with Michael Newberry. I have worked on at least 30 gestural thumbnails and have finally found an image that I would like to put on the big sheet of the Rives paper. This will be an emotional piece and I must say that working with charcoal on such a big format in a different technique is being an exciting and fantastic experience. The process of saturating you paper with charcoal and then taking some of it off, is a very fulfilling practice. I started my big piece yesterday and have put five hours into it. There is not enough to show yet, but I do hope to post an update in the following week.

In the meantime I am posting the compositional thumbnail sketch. The practice of doing these sketches is to use as a guide and a tool as with the atmospheric sketch. They are sketches that are not supposed to take more than 2 min. to do but the purpose of doing so many is to have several alternatives to choose from for the real thing. The subject of the sketch has to have some emotional meaning and the objects used should be part of that meaning. Once I have posted an update I will write a little about it.