Christmas Sprite

Happy New Year! as I deliver the last remnant of Christmas to you... This lovely sprite was our model the last day I painted with my peeps before Christmas. She made this wonderful costume herself. I painted on a piece of very smooth cardboard, something I love doing. It may not be archival but it shows the brushstrokes in a way that most other grounds do not. It will be very easy to crop this and I'm thinking about cropping it right above the arms. However, I enjoy the negative space designs around the figure, which would be lost with a cropping. What thinkest thou, O blogosphereans?










I got a very late start and so had to set up my gear in the back of the room, far from the model. You can see my trusty Soltek and my start. I usually smear the canvas with paint and pull off the highest value areas first, then paint in the darkest darks. Here, though, I was using a sheet of cardboard and the smeared paint soaked in so fast that I couldn't lift it out for the highlights. I love challenges!