This one was an experiment to see if I could let go of my self-imposed restraints a little. I wanted to produce something different. Both of my sons took one look at it and shuddered. “You should stick to birds, mom,” was the common refrain. That made me laugh. Not quite the reaction I’d hoped for, but Zack did suggest a title, and that’s what I went with. Here’s “Eye of the Storm”, the second Elemental in my Nature Fantasy series.
She is the Wind Worker – driven by passion, enamored with chaos, oblivious to danger and energized by storms. The wind is swirling around her, autumn leaves riding on the waves in her hair. This is the second in a Nature Fantasy series. All colors are light-fast Ozark pigments.
This watercolor painting is mounted on acid-free foam core and varnished with an archival coating. It does not need glass to protect it. Original (10.25 x 13) and prints (9 x 12 and under) available, but not listed yet.
The Reference
I can’t paint faces without looking at a photo, and I had just the photo for this one. It’s one I took of myself back in March (I think) when the wind was blowing hard and I’d made the mistake of going outside without putting my hair up. It did kind of feel as if I were in the eye of a storm, so the name of the painting is pretty fitting.
But I didn’t want to just do a self-portrait. I only wanted to use the picture for an idea of how to do the parts I couldn’t imagine… like nose, eyes, ear, and mouth, and neck… okay, pretty much everything about a figure is a part I can’t imagine how to do without a reference.
The Process
Is Eye of the Storm For Sale?
Yes, it is, but I don’t have it listed in my shop yet. If you want to see it, I’ll have it with me this Saturday at The Little Craft Show in downtown Bentonville. I’ll have it framed by then. I won’t have prints available yet, though. The painting looks a lot better in real life than it does in the photos.
