Living in a world of kindness

Some days I am lucky to be conscious of what a kind world I
inhabit. Today was one of those days. It started with and ended
with the kind gestures of everyone I met. My friends on the
blog lifted me up with their comments on the painting I'm working
on. I talked to my son in Korea on Skype and we laughed as
I drank my morning coffee. He was going to bed, as I was trying
to get into my day. If you haven't tried Skype yet, it's a miracle
if you have a camera and microphone on your computer.
You can call the people you love who are far away for free and
see them. It has meant the world to me this year with Christopher
and Megan teaching English half way across the planet.

My sweet model came and we worked on and off for three
hours. You may have trouble seeing what I was working on,
but I was blocking in more of the painting, especially the skirt.
We were both tired today, but we stayed cheery, and the
session was very good.

The Promise
36 x 48 inches
I start by filling in more of the blue
satin throw behind the model,
and define the pillows a bit more

I visited my cousin and she gave me a beautiful little table,
which just fits in the corner of my studio. So that was a treat.
She also showed me wonderful pictures of my paternal
grandparents when they were young that I had never seem before.

Because I started with an orangey
red ground, I now want to cover
most of it.
I start laying in more of the blue/mauve
underpainting that will highlight the bright
white on the skirt. For my friends who are opposed
to white, it is actually titanium white,
with cadmium yellow medium and portrait pink,
even some cadmium orange. I add touches
of light to the bodice of the dress
and the pillows.

Then after supper my friend Josephine came over to help
me with a couple of projects around the house. We took
chips of colour off the bottom of the walls in the family
room and the office to give to the best paint colour
man I know, Todd, at Maple Paints here in town.
We need to match the existing colour, because the walls
will be repainted next week, and they are red in the family
room, and yellow in the office.

Where we left off today. I am
now pushing and pulling the
darks and lights. So much
of the work is just playing
around until it feels right.
Tomorrow I'll start by checking for variety in
the width, texture, colour etc.
of the skirt folds, make some
more decisions about the background and
start on the face.

Well actually I'll do that over the next two days, because I only have
an hour with my model tomorrow. When she's here, it's all about
capturing the light. Her presence gives the work depth and
excitement that's harder to capture from a photo.

Have a loving-your-work day.