Go Bold Or Go Home

My goal with this image of Charlie Parker was to do it in a bold, spontaneous manner. I had recently seen a video by Don Andrews and I love his style of laying on the paint. In my attempt I feel that I was quite successful. I started out with a red wash over the entire paper except the white areas. Then while still wet I laid in some strong darks particularly in the background. As per usual I then wanted to let that wash dry so I could evaluate things. This is my comfort zone in painting. I had a real moment of insight when Sharon Williams suggested not to wait for it to dry but keep working it, laying in more darks and linking the background with the darks in the face. All of a sudden the light bulb just turned on. I could see myself pushing through my comfort zone and just letting it go. I think that would have given the painting even more spontaneity an most importantly I would have learned something really new about painting and about myself. I find this idea incredibly exciting and intend to do some real exploration of this approach. It's moments like this that keep me moving along this art journey. So I really like this image for what it is but I'm most inspired by where it might lead.