There is no truer truth than “growing old is not for sissies” and I am a sissy. However I have not been given the sissy’s way out which I guess is either death or complete dementia and so, with a solid “ugh,” over the weekend I accepted a new set of numbers. This set of numbers, my friend tells me, when added together is 10 or 1 which in numerology means a new beginning. Double ugh. I’m too old for new beginnings. Can’t all my old beginnings join together for a beautiful ending? However, over the long weekend I found myself drawn to a blank canvas sitting in the hall.
For most of my life I’ve balanced my spare time equally between art and writing. And then ten years ago I decided to focus primarily on the writing. I had some nutty idea that I could write a best seller! HA!! And so for the last decade I have only gotten down to my studio when the weather was too nice to stay inside. Once there I would throw some paint on a canvas and make a mess. Really a mess. I won’t show you some of my messes because I’m too embarrassed (given the amount of time I spent in art school).
I’ve always been partial to this photo my father took when I was probably four years old. He had a real eye. But to do it justice I decided to discipline myself. Yes, discipline. Believe it or not, most artists – even those far out artists – have to discipline themselves.
First I drew the image on graph paper and outlined the form. It needs a few adjustments but those I hope can be made during the painting process. Then I transferred the rough shape onto the canvas.
Whoops – the baby is too big. My brother was a chunkster but not that chunky. But I think it’s close enough for a start. Now to the hard part for me: the pallet. I am not good with colors and so I decided to open the original image in Photoshop and do my experimenting there.

First I decided to cut the figures from the picture and place them against different backgrounds.

I made eight “layers” to experiment with. This is all eight layers combined. I kind of like it. What do you think? Sigh, I’ll probably get so involved in Photoshop antics that I’ll never get to the actual painting. Oh Lord, stuck in new beginnings again.