So, how long does it take you to paint such a large painting? That is a question I often hear. The answer is, It depends. The question should be, ‘How do you cover such a large area with paint?’ Every one is thinking about direct method where you mix every color even remotely needed and then lay it on stroke by perfect stroke. Sorry, for me that is not possible. Today I wondered if I could even get up the stairs to my studio. Well, it felt that bad but now that I am here, I am in my happy place. Even so, I must choose an area to paint and get it done. My goal today is to cover an area of flesh with an under painting that is somewhat close to what I envision as my finished skin layer. I thought I would give you a peek at what this looks like. Try to understand that I am aiming for correcting proportion and shape using colors that have close to the correct value. Now that I have slapped this on as quickly but correctly as possible in a relatively short time, I will now use an old fuzzy brush to spread it into rather correct position. Next, I will buff it to a shine. Then I will sculpt the muscles to the best I can get it today. Does this sound easy? No, it is not. But I really like the results after five or six or seven layers. Bouguereau said, forty layers is not too many!

let me briefly tell you that I have been working on a special project. Soon, I will show it to you. It is an art tool which I am having manufactured now. I have been working on this for three years and trying to get the price down. I am hoping to make it available in a very limited quantity and then sell it to an art supplier for a percentage. It is a very useful tool which I designed for my own use to save time,(pain hours), and perfect the likeness. Hopefully I can show it to you soon. For now, be well, be grateful. Hugs, Diana