Sisters in May

30″ x 24″
Oil on canvas

This is the painting of my nieces Jamie and Adrian. I used this same idea for a large multi-color block print 14″ X 11″. Block prints are very time consuming and complex. At this stage I had started using backgrounds for my own mind. After five weeks of being under house arrest during the corona virus lock down and with limited inspiration I decided to look through my inventory and find a painting that needed to be finished. When I started this painting about 20 years ago I was going through a stage where I was stretching my own canvas over plywood. First the canvas needed to be re-stretched properly. The painting was only just started with oil sticks. Oil sticks are much different than oil crayons and have a very coarse texture. When evaluating the drawing I realized that the legs, hands and feet were completely wrong. If a major element is at the wrong angle, too large or too small the rest of the painting will be discordant. More time will be spent trying to adjust all the other elements when just fixing what is wrong in the first place will be the fastest. Also I was still using black oil paint straight out of the tube rather than mix my own black that helps give it variation. The yellow background is difficult because there is very little differences between the four yellows on my palate. This painting was still worth trying to save and the challenge was enjoyable. Focusing on this painting at this time was perfect. Now what am I going to paint next? I don’t think I can do another still life for at least three months.