Moving right along

 Ellie • 12 x 16 inches • WORK IN PROGRESS

We had word last Friday that we are AT LAST coming to the end of the process of selling our big house, and next week we hopefully will be able to get on with our renovation at the little old farmhouse we will be moving into. I’m so excited I can hardly stand it!

Meanwhile, I’m sitting myself down at the easel this morning to work toward completion of this commission, which is also exciting and a joy to work on. As you can see, I started with a fairly detailed sketch with a soft 2B graphite drawing pencil. This is less the method of the impressionists and more the method of turn-of-the-century Golden Age illustrators like Beatrix Potter, Elizabeth Shippen Green and Jessie Wilcox Smith. (As a side note, here’s a little window into the way my mind plays sometimes -- well, okay, most of the time: every time I went to pick up the pencil I would think, “2B or not 2B? That is the question.” I know, I know. A real groaner.)

I’ve just started layering in the oils over the underpainting of acrylic glazes. I love starting with the eyes. It seems to bring life to the painting right from the start.

And now, back to the easel to see what happens today!