Finally I feel I've gotten to the point where I can post and show my progress. The waves were created by a mix of Prussian blue, titanium white, and cobalt and other earth colors. The waves that are crashing mimic her internal and external struggles. I like the way the crest turned out and the surf. When I made this i was thinking about the line from Still Here, where he says " My hopes the wind done scattered" I depicted that thought crashing of the waves.
The bird on her shoulder is going to eventually be shown picking at her jugular vein. Like a vulture scavenging for food. The bird depicts the Nay Sayers, the people, the things, and situations that we let destroy us. I thought of the part that Langston Hughes wrote, "Looks like between 'em they done tried to make me stop laughing, stop lovin', stop livin-"
This the full view of what I've done so far. I really like the way the background is turning out. I love how all the same colors dance through the painting to give it a sense of cohesion. I'm pretty happy with the composition and i wanted it tight on a long canvas without much width to show her confinement. The sand, the hands, the dress and the skin tone will be the new things that will be worked on for my next post... I will persevere.