Honk!

What is this little guy thinking?

What are these geese thinking?

Is it a confrontation or a game?

Are they interested or annoyed?

I like to think that they're just getting to know each other. Maybe the geese are teaching the little guy a few goose words. I want to believe that they even understand each other for those few magical minutes.

I love the process of painting.

First comes choosing the subject. For me it has to be an image that stands alone to tell a story. That's followed by deciding on the best canvas size, drawing in a few key shapes, and blocking in some color. Like most kids, paintings have to go through an ugly stage. Maybe this is when they (both the kids and the paintings) need the most love! I do love that ugly stage. I've learned to trust that eventually blobs of color will take shape and empty spots on the canvas will become forms. The frustrating part comes when it seems right, but there's just something not right. For a second opinion, I hold it up to a mirror... oh, the shadows are missing or going the wrong way! Or, I look at a photograph of it on a computer screen... oh, there are no highlights! Or, I show it to my painting mentor... oh, yeah, the edges are too harsh! Finally it just needs to be left alone and not looked at. I think that's when the painting fairies sneak in and... voila...

The funny thing for me is that once a painting is finished and I've given the satisfied sigh... I'm over it and ready to move on. I'm ready to sell it or give to some who wants to enjoy it. I want to have an excellent product, but it's the process that I crave more of.

"Honk!" has been a little different, however. I still love looking at it and imagining what was going through the little minds of that little boy and that gaggle of geese!

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 16" Canvas
[SOLD]