A true international art society

Portrait head for Water series stage four
acrylic on canvas
30 x 30 inches
Barbara Muir © 2010
(Stage four is the background starting to come
in. With an abstract background I can
link a series of portraits together through
the background. This has made me
very happy today. Now I will finish
the background with another small
stripe of water indicating a tide pool.
Then I'll refine the face and hair.
Most of what has happened today
about this series is not on the canvas,
but that is what painting is about --
thinking, planning, preparing (working with
the next model), then doing the painting.

I know I've read today's title over, and it sounds much more
pretentious than it is. What I'm thinking tonight is
that I've talked to artists from a few countries this week,
and they've helped me immensely. I'm at stage four
of my painting of the girl's face.

Today one of the two other models for the series
came over to my studio to pose for the next one I'm
painting. But I was stalled in my mind on where to go
with this one. My problem was not a lack of imagination,
it was imagination gone wild. Every time I thought about
the painting I saw a different resolution, a different direction
I could not get my feet on the ground.

For the past two nights I could hardly sleep -- waking
myself up with a jolt as yet another idea flashed through
my head. Meanwhile I was in discussion with my artist
friends here in town and in cities in other parts of
the planet. Their kind discussions and encouragement
finally helped me decide today what to do. The consensus
was to stay simple, cheerful and true to myself. So I
have. Today a friend in France suggested that my
slightly abstract ocean pictures from last summer
would be cool as backgrounds, and my mind clicked
into gear. I realized exactly how to treat these "water"
portraits, and when my model went to her next
appointment, I started the background on this one.

The background isn't quite finished because I wanted
to give the impression of the ocean and a tide pool
behind the girl's head, but I'll do that tomorrow.

Once the background seems right, I'll get back to
working on the face and hair. Not a whole lot more,
but a whole lot more directed because now I know
exactly where I'm going with the series, and I've
made my essential decision. Thank you to everyone
who helped me figure this out this week. You
are a true international art society.

Have a getting-down-to-the-basics day.