Spider Web

School began in the past month and it has me like a ton of bricks.  I haven't posted since the semester began, but I'm getting on top of things finally and can do something other than write papers and learn new math concepts. Just in time to keep me from a full blown anxiety problem.  

I find when I'm swamped with busy work, finding time to paint isn't hard, but finding the inspiration to paint is!  I had to do some gesture drawings of cacti before things began to flow again.  As I was hiking around the desert, looking for something interesting to draw, I saw a spider web between two cactus pads.  It just lingered in the back of my mind, intriguing me all week.  I finally decided it might make a painting.   I began this not sure what would come of it.  Here are some pictures of how it's coming together:

The drawing is done and the mask is applied.  I used Fineline Resist Pen and really liked it

My painting teacher suggested more ugly parts to contrast with the beautiful parts.  I like the idea, so added more bug gnawings to the edges.  This was taken wet; you can see in the next photo how much lighter it dried.  I had to go in with more color later on. 

None of the three cactus pads is quite the same hue as the others, but thanks to the limited palette, they still have color harmony.

I really wasn't sure how to handle the background as this was an experiment.  After I started to add deep blue/violet hues, I decided that was just right.  

The photo doesn't show the depth of the violet hues, but they contrast nicely with the light on the pads.  I can't wait to take off the mask and finish the spine areas.

This, like the other cacti paintings is done using three colors, Pthalo Blue, Cadmium Yellow Pale and Alizarin Crimson.  Tomorrow, off with the mask and on to the finish!  I might survive the next 2.5 months after all.  Might...