The Hitchhiker

 The Hitchhiker

30" x 40" oil on canvas

I've sailed past the greens and am now into the greys in a new painting.  Well truth be told there are greens in the new painting, but its not in a fit state to be seen quite yet.  There are a group of boats in the composition and I've found that in any grouping there is always *one* section that causes grief in terms of structure.  This grouping is no different.

Yes, I could have projected an image onto canvas and gotten the outline perfectly  but I prefer to draw by hand when possible and when enlarging that can have its challenges.  Here's a sneak peek at the composition draw directly on the canvas.  The foreground boat is the culprit but paint is making it conform nicely.

So while I wrestle it to the ground, I'll show you the completed painting 'The Hitchhiker" with all those greens in it.  I've been making progress on some large pieces and have four of them completed with this current one being # 5.

I've developed a painful, stiff hand over the last week and its slowing down progress and making lots of tasks difficult.  Its the one thing that an artist dreads isn't it, a hand problem.  Anything serious and it kisses goodbye painting as we know it.  More than like, its arthritis, which cold winter weather doesn't help, so heat and sometimes fingerless gloves for painting work to keep the symptoms at bay.

But, as Lucian Freud was quoted in the book I'm currently reading about his life "Breakfast with Lucian",  Painting is "pain" with a "t" on it.