The Prodigal

My son and I like to go to estate sales once in a while.  There are often lots of treasures to be found... you should see the watercolor paper I have gotten at a bargain price!  Once in a while we will get to a sale and the sellers will be limiting the number of people who can go in at one time, so we have to wait outside until it is our turn to go in.  Not too long ago we were waiting and it was already getting pretty hot when my son put his arms on the gate and laid his head down... and bam!  There it was ~ the sun shining on his back and arms and the entire situation changed for me.  Instead of being at an estate sale I was planning a painting!  Actually I was still at the sale but my intentions changed.  Instead of bargain hunting I was grabbing for my phone (I didn't have my official camera with me!) and ordering my son not to move!

The photo isn't the quality I could have gotten with a "real" camera instead of a phone, but it was certainly good enough to bring back the feelings the moment had provided... I just knew there was a painting in there.  I don't know how you work, but often I mull a painting over in my mind for several months before I do anything about it... other times, not so much!!  This time I thought about the painting for a long time before finally putting it on my computer and into photoshop where I played with it a bit.

The first thing I did was crop it to make it a horizontal painting.

The next thing I did was bump up the contrast and the saturation of the colors.

It is already looking better.  Next I discarded the color so I could work with the values.  I had to isolate a couple of areas so I could make them darker or lighter.  When I had the values the way I thought I wanted them I posterized it at level 3.

Then I just had to draw it on the watercolor paper and paint it.  After I had worked on it a while I asked Susan Giannantonio to critique it for me.  She had a few suggestions... some I took and some I probably didn't. :>}   

The completed painting... Body Language: The Prodigal   

(I think it is a long distance from the gate where the man is to the front door... what is keeping him from going on in??  Why does he appear so dejected?  Lots of unanswered questions...)

The first in a series on Body Language.  

And now you know how I work from start to finish of a painting.  How bout you?  What tricks of the trade do you use when painting? 

Be Still My Art,

Kay