Ben’s Painting

 

 

This painting took a long time to figure out. I’ve included the different steps and the finished work in the post to give an idea of how the painting of Ben was made.  I do multiple layers.  A lot of times the first steps are just getting something down that I can work with.  You can see that I painted over a lot of details that I initially had.

Sometimes when I paint I get attached to the photo(s) that I’m working from.  When I first started I thought getting my painting to look exactly like a photo was the best thing ever.  I still feel that way a little but I’m branching out.  Recently I’ve been thinking more about what suits the painting.  What should go into the painting and what should come out.  I’ve also been thinking a lot about my process.  When is a painting done?  I think there are multiple points that a painting can be done and that I can stop.  What keeps me going is the image in my head and what I’m aiming for.