Bat Marian

Bat Marian   watercolor   13.5 x 10

is the result of a life painting situation.  Marian and I were seated across from each other, both wearing masks.  Painting from life increases speed in decision making which results, I think, in a more spontaneous painting.  These works are often quite different from a more thoughtful approach, where sketches and decision-making are more prolonged and labored over.

Thinking sculpturally is a great advantage here where a knowledge of how a light source affects the landscape of a face helps it to read three-dimensionally.  Without this knowledge, which I like to call "understanding the nature of things", any work from life without a particular light source can become flattened.  Likewise working with a photo source.

Marian's mask was cast from metal....quite unusual.  I am pleased with this work.  I feel that it captures many of the effects which I constantly pursue.