Drinking Alone

Saturday I attended the Independent Painters session. I had missed last week's class, so now I only had 3 hours to work on this portrait of our model. Usually the deal is that we paint from each model for two consecutive weeks, a total of 6 hours. So I was feeling the pressure of time.  Somehow I finished it, with only a couple of details remaining that needed to be resolved. I worked on it this afternoon, and it "magically" came together. I really enjoyed the colors I was working with, and felt that they captured a mood. The subject seemed to suggest that it needed one. I was also guided by the claret color of the model's jacket and his light colored slacks. Loved his hat, which somewhat reminded me of Frank LLoyd Wright's hat as I recall it from old photos. (He and I were never close friends, as he was too opinionated.) One of the things I enjoy when I'm painting these days is lack of exactitude. Especially in my acrylic paintings, it seems like the paint application and brushwork take precedence over detail work, although I feel that this is still a good likeness of the model. I love the process of painting where it feels like I'm in automatic overdrive, and I can count on the brush and my intuitive self to do the necessary work!