DONE! DONE! DONE! DONE!!

DONE!  DONE!  DONE!

I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief over this.  I'll still stare at it for several days, just to see if anything needs to be changed.  There's a curve on the guitar that keeps screaming at me, so that'll probably be altered in the not too distant future.  But it's DONE!

The font for the word "Relate" was chosen by the client, which was a little freaky to paint.

It's curious that while I was painting this I was really moved by the thought that God gives each of us very unique talents and gifts.  Then, mixed with our very unique personalities, and very unique strengths and weaknesses, He uses those gifts to serve Him in very specific ways.  And He's DELIGHTED about it.  He's honored, and His name is made great when we each do the specific things He made us to do.  When you get to watch God's children serving God's children it's an awe inspiring thing.  TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

Carrots, Anyone?

I found a MUCH better reference pic for a little girl.  This is the first, rough layer of paint.  She'll get better (hopefully!) as the layers get added.

This guy however...

I told you I needed to work on his face.  And I DID work on his face, but clearly not enough!  He still needs some serious help!  Did You hear that Lord?  I need Your help!

I was reminded the other day, that I always SAY that God is faithful.  That He never changes.  That what was true yesterday is still true today.  So, if I've seen God's kindness in helping me paint in the past, why do I tend to doubt that He would help me today as well?  He will, and He does.  Because He has given me this love, and this talent, and He will use this to glorify His name.

"Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth."  (Psalm 115:1)

Moving Forward, Slowly

Progress feels good!  Even if it's not yet perfect...not yet finished...having the guitar player sort of fleshed out, and the guy with boxes back on the canvas is a good thing!  I'm learning (did you catch that? LEARNING) that I'll need to do the hard work of having more than one layer of paint.  It's ok.  It'll make for a better end product.

A very wise and skilled artist friend reminded me that if these paintings will be seen from a distance (and they will), then it's perfectly ok, and even better, to have them remain loose.  Even in the details of the face.  So I'm attempting that.  It looks a bit freaky up close:

Just big huge blotches of paint, but the hope is that they'll communicate well from across the room!

This guy's face is a MESS, and I'll have to work on fixing it as soon as the paint is dryer.  And the work goes on!

One Step Forward and Several Steps Back

Notice anything different?  Not a lot of forward progress, that's for sure!  The box carrying dude is now covered over, and the little girl is completely missing!  They needed help.  A lot of help.  It's better than chucking the canvas and building a brand new one!

I'll also have to admit to my guitar playing model that I made him a lefty.  Ambidextrous!

Step Three

Phew!  Progress.

I painted the cook twice.  The mechanics face was also painted twice, and I'm seriously considering a third pass!  Today I do the guitar player, and being the central focal point, he's supposed to POP.  We'll see!

Step One

Remember...waaaay long ago...I mentioned painting a set of paintings for a church in Wisconsin?  Well, I'm FINALLY getting started!  This is just the background for one of the canvases.  That's a bit of a repeating logo ("Re") that the client wanted to fade away, almost like a watermark.  There will be a whole crowd of people on top of this, and most of the red will completely disappear.  I think!  We'll see how it turns out.  Clearly, I paint by the grace of God!