Where will this lead?...

Barefoot in April   watercolor/mixed on paper   20.5 x 13.5

I don't know....but at least it will be a surprise.  I love this notion.  Not having preconceived notions about where a particular piece of work will go is so exciting.  Normally, I start out painting from life until I feel the need to veer off of the path.  It can be a color, a texture or just of feeling of "this is just too boring" that jump starts the leap into the unknown.  The idea of letting the work itself suggest transitions is yin and keeps me interested and flexible.  It also helps to deal with life...where nothing really turns out as we plan.  "Barefoot" started out life as a watercolor painting in the ASA studio during the April art walk.  It was the first really warm day of the season and the model willingly removed his shoes.  I painted what I saw.  Working later, I realized that I disliked the darkness in the lower right corner and also disliked the stool that had been painted in.  I wanted the energy shift to life upwards toward the bare foot....that was my story.  Printing on top of the work solved part of the problem and the resultant textures were much to my liking.  The work was finished off with fat pencils and a bit of charcoal.  This is indeed an oversimplified explanation, as I had no idea where I was headed and, in fact, felt several times that this work was headed for the trash.  After several wrong turns, and just one right turn in excess, I was rewarded.  This work spins my fan.  Barefoot.  In April.