Dusk in the City

Below is my newest work, fresh from my easel, the culmination of my painting sessions at the Independent Painters, working from a model.

Above is the product of combining a painting I did last week in the Independent Painters session, and an exploration for collage elements as possibilities, mounting some of the materials such as the corrugated board in my studio, and today's session at the Independent Painters, working from the same model again, and arriving fully equipped with a folder of images I thought might work to create a setting for this figure. What a great time I had putting it all together. Working with my printed imagery and my trusty scissors I spent the first block of time figuring out which parts of my printed matter would work the best to convey a rough idea I had in my head of what the environment would be for my character, my model.  Adhering those segments to my canvas, piecing it all together to make visual sense, I then began to upgrade the previously painted figure from last week. Following that ongoing stage, I worked to integrate the collaged elements and the painted areas to make them a unified whole. It was exciting as it took shape, pulling off the kind of feeling, the mood, I had imagined. This return to collage has been a great inspirational direction for me, and a return to my past days of integrating foreign elements into my paintings.