I had this idea waiting on deck pre-semester so was able to hit the ground running -- concept sketches, materials, laying-out and image prep was all done in the first 2-3 weeks. And then a month and a half of flatline. I had my subject matter down, knew how and where everything had to be, but just couldn't figure out the painterly aesthetic that I wanted.
E.g. three early iterations of the first image I tried painting. I'm actually quite fond of the one on the left but (error of all errors) I plotted a new course after some negative feedback from the one teacher in my class whose opinion I actually value. Hence, the increasingly butchered attempts. In terms of the figure, it turned out okay but I immediately and adamantly knew that I could do better.
Behold the breakthrough (above). The lightbult moment came as I was staring at the texture of the floor in the painting studios during a group crit, and was further reinforced by the chance discovery of this jacket cover for Matt Kindt's "Superspy". This led to the profuse experimentation with dripped solvent and glazed paints. I'm extremely happy with the end result. That background combined with the slashed paint strokes on the astronaut give the piece the whole street art feel that I was so depserately searching for.
Now all I have to do is get the rest of the pieces up to speed. Which isn't too bad considering that the astronaut only took me two days all up and I've got the blueprint for the whole process in my pocket. Most importantly, however, is that this project is now fun again. No more banging my head against a wall.
Only four teacher assisted weeks left in the semester and counting so I'm glad that things are finally coming together. Let's see how it goes from here.
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