Now I am getting close…

I don’t want to get too detailed. Below is a close-up of one section.

Now I will let this rest some time and maybe I will come up with something else to do.

I was working in the studio yesterday, feeling sad and lost. I mostly wanted to destroy the painting and then I started working on the background with reckless disregard, like I had nothing to lose. Oddly enough, that liberated me and led me on to experiment in way that I may not have dared otherwise. So I continued with the same courage on the suits, the shoes, the shirts, etc. This is how it looks now:

I will go back and work more on the faces and hands, as well as the chairs. And then what?

I have been distracted by other matters and progress is slow, but here is a new picture. It is almost scary to show how it looks now. Hopefully I can improve the work.

The photo of the painting is not perfect. The colors are not quite as bright and I will try to darken and dull the entire painting.

I have started a very ambitious project. I am going to paint twelve gentlemen based on an old photo I found in our house. I have no idea who they are, but they are all dressed up for a very special occasion (maybe one of the gentlemen has received an honorary medal?) and it is an interesting picture. The beginning is always very tedious and tiring, as I have to be very concentrated while drawing up the outlines and main details. As soon as I start painting it is a lot more fun…

This is a section of the work. The entire piece is 80 x 120 cm