Gee Linda,

You know how to paint a slinky man. Wowsa!

Leave it, it is is dripping with sensuality, luscious color and paint.

Hire the guy, in March, when I am there to give you support.

Not a bad idea. Count me in.

Well, fortunately I will be there too, as it is clear that someone will have to keep you all from letting things get out of hand. :thumbsup:

Tom - thank you!

Aunt Sharon, you are a menace to society and a threat to the serious, contempletive world of Fine Art. Not only that, but I always get into trouble hanging around you.

Alright, I worked on the head a little bit today and at least took a better photo of the painting. Ilaria, I took your advice and didn't rely all that much on the photo reference, which is not very good anyway.

Linda your work is so juicy and always a pleasure to view. I can't even get a background done in that time. Well Done!

Linda, thanks for the better photo. It's SUCH a dynamic painting!

Linda,

This is a killer painting.

I went out yesterday and bought myself a pickax and a bandanna. After leaning on it for a couple of hours, and receiving NO cat calls, I packed it in. Maybe there's more to it ...

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Ngaire - so nice to see you here again. You could get a background done fast, just use a big brush. (Also - well, you know this already of course - squint at the subject a lot, paint the big shapes and planes first and get them accurate. It's easy to get distracted by detail when painting; squinting helps see the big shapes and values.)

Anyway, it doesn't matter how fast an artist paints, what's important is the final product. Personally, I usually paint way too fast and then I have to go back and correct my mistakes. It's surely a bad habit to paint fast. (I draw - charcoal, graphite, etc. - much more slowly than I paint, by the way, unless I am just goofing around.)

Mike - you wouldn't have lasted long in that getup if you had been here. We would have grabbed you as a model.

Alex - thanks again!

Marina - I'm taking that as a compliment. :)

Here's the painting again and I'm calling it done. (That yellow is Studio Products Gamboge, incidentally, a real powerhouse of a color.)

Yep, done. Yep, killer painting. You are my hero@@!