Contrasts

I'm so neat and clean. But the place that I admire so very much is much more messy. If I could, I would have love to have added an aura around my figure, lightening bolts of energy, like Basquiat added to his figure.

I name my failure to follow my desires one of cowardliness. I like to be sensible and to do logical. When I do manage to follow whimsy, and add a magical note, it stays within the lines of storybook illustration.

My figure used the tiniest of brushes to be made. Basquiet used blunt oil sticks to draw with. Basquiet's work was huge, probably worked on the floor, while mine was table top small.

I don't know where my style is heading, but I know that I am not yet a mature artist. I'm still forming opinions and work methods. On small panels, 5" x 7", like the earlier entry of the mermaid and the sailor, I'm experimenting. My belief is that small size feels like throw away, and it is not intimidating. I can afford to make mistakes when my time investment is lower than on a large painting. A painting is almost finished. This figure is part of it, but there is as yet no title. I know that the next painting I am planning is 20" x 24" but that there will absolutely be one or more 5" x 7" panels that I will switch off on while working on the large project. The subject matter of the small panels will probably be monsters. Monsters and a more abstracted painting style certainly go together well.