The Offering Basket

Well, I have finished the painting of this wonderful, elderly and quite thoughtful woman from Bali. Another lesson on 'overdoing it' with watercolor as I feel I have lost some of the freshness (or the white of the paper shining through) in her yellow robe and hands. That is SO easy to do in watercolor! I enjoy certain areas such as the free-form batik-like pattern in the top half. I like the final product of her expression also. Actually, I enjoy all of the top half! It is the bottom half that I find a bit uninteresting. Hmmmm. That may be some Freudian thought due to my own body image.......anyway....moving on for now, but you may see this thoughtful woman resurrected on a full sheet of watercolor paper, with a goal to be completed in no more than two sittings.

Off to capture some other images of Bali. What a beautiful country.

A Lesson in Bali

A painting I am working on this week. I met this woman while visiting Bali recently.
She was patiently trying to teach me to weave grass to make an offering basket. The look on her face was so peaceful, introspective and kind. I am experimenting with my own version of batiking in this painting also by applying hot wax with a tjanting (batik tool) to use as a form of resist to save some light areas of the paper. There is still wax on parts of this woman's gown. Tomorrow I will be hopefully finishing this by glazing over the gown with warm golden color and finishing her hands, face and the midsection. A fun piece so far.

In yesterday's life-drawing class there was a beautiful, full-bodied (finally!), mid-life woman posing. Well, I drew her for about an hour and then realized that I was mesmerized by the coffee cup that she had set quickly at the foot of her chair before settling into her final pose. What was with that?!? Procrastination?

I was happy with my position as the view was mostly of her back and the side of one leg. That may not sound interesting to most, but the light was quite soft, yet dramatic hitting the curves and valleys along her back and side. I find it most appealing to draw or paint someone with a fabric strategically draped. The lines, shapes and value changes in certain organic material can be as sensual as the human form. Hmmmmm, perhaps coffee cups have a sensuality also........