Friday, April 27, 2012

STAGES OF THE SOLITARY CROW



He began fairly simply.  Just a crow shape on a mossy rock, a bit of color around him.





As he took shape, I tried to add some texture into his body with water blossoms and granulating color.





Not bad, but he's not a bluebird so he needed much darker pigments added.


He was left to sit on the table while I went off to Mryna Wacknov's workshop at the Kanuga Watermedia Workshops in North Carolina.

So when I returned, I knew he needed something more to jazz him up!



What better things to jazz up a dull background than black and white gesso, drizzled and put on from a bottle like calligraphic marks.  All zagging around with upward movement.





But he still needed darkening...so





added some darker blues and violets to make him darker and I think he holds his own against that background now.
 

Just a bit more shaping of his body and I think he'll be done.  The painting also became squared in the decision process.


What do you think of this Solitary Crow?

9 comments:

hw (hallie) farber said...

I like his aura; good decision on the square.

Gary L. Everest said...

Evening Rhonda,
This is, in my always humble opinion, the best crow you've done.
I liked how you teased us until the last minute and it was well worth the wait.
Brava, Rhonda!
Sincerely,
Gary.

Autumn Leaves said...

He seems magical with that light limning his body. Wonderful!

Jeanette Jobson said...

Indeed a mystic crow with the lights of the universe emanating from him and around him.

RH Carpenter said...

Thanks, Hallie :)

Gary, thanks so much!

Thanks for the great comments, Sherry and Jeanette.

Unknown said...

I really like how your crow is turning out. Just lovely!

RH Carpenter said...

Thanks, Tina :) I appreciate your comments on this one.

Heather said...

I love this painting! Amazing! :)

RH Carpenter said...

Thanks, Heather, for taking the time to stop by and for giving me such a great comment on this one! I enjoyed visiting your blog a bit today, too :)