Stretching, stretch, stretching…

I missed last week’s I.F. – the word was “Stretch”. This is what I made and wrote.

Spindly with graceless steps, pointed toes, stretching limbs as far as possible, rushing to get off the street, hoping these sentient buildings (it’s in your head, dear) would stop with their imposing posture. Maybe the beginning of capture – “we snack on Marfan”. Maybe a respectful, welcoming gesture – “we mean you no harm as we mean nothing”. Her mind flutters with questions: “Is it a greeting or am I for eating?”

Slacka!

I am a slacker! Procrastinator, excuse-maker, etc… I was hoping it hadn’t been more than a couple of weeks since I updated with fresh work/posts, but it has. WAY more. I’m ashamed.

I haven’t really been accomplishing much as far as quantity. I have, however, finished a drawing that I attempted 3 times before. I suppose 4th time’s the charm. As usual there are several potential titles flying through my head, but at least this time there is a theme: “Dinner”.

My goal with this one was to get our female’s face and hands to emotionally match. I think I’ve achieved it. When I asked J.D. what his thoughts were, he said “Love” and I was happy.

I’m still having some problems with background. I really like using chalk pastels for backgrounds. I like the effect it offers the picture and overall feel. I’m just not always confident in my choice of colors. This one, though…it might be okay.

Time for dinner.

“Where Do You Come From”…

That is a working title, although I’m sure I’ll keep it. First thoughts are generally the ones I go with.

I am not thoroughly pleased with this piece. I felt that I really rushed it, especially today, and that impatience lead to a slew of problems. I intend to redo it at some point after I’ve given myself time to look it over and nitpick.

One thing I’ve been trying with these last two pieces (talking about the post prior to this one that has yet to be titled) is to play with the paper and see how tolerant it is. I use this paper a lot – Bristol Smooth. It’s one of my favorite papers to use, but I’m not so sure it’s suitable for pastels. Or maybe it’s the repeated erasing and aggressive rubbing that did it in, but not long into working the sky the paper started to pill up – mainly around the female’s head. It all went downhill from there.

One thing I like about the picture are the expressions. While the faces aren’t nearly as expressive as I wanted them to be, I feel like I still got some of it out. It’s certainly an excellent starting point for the next attempt at this particular piece.

I’m growing accustomed to this sigh I get when I finish a work – usually right after removing all the tape. It’s…relief. Pleasure. Excitement and anticipation. I like it! My rotator cuff, however, does not and is super pissed.