19.03.2024. Time to be daring!

I've been building up to having a splash around with paint, but have been a bit unsure as to how to start. By chance I was doing some long overdue tidying up outside and in the damp covered area and came across something I made about 55 years ago. A paper mache cast from a mould I made from a book on fossils. Here it is, Terataspis, a spiny trilobite from the Devonian era. It needed cleaning and some mending. I then gave it some layers of gesso. Just the kind of surface to interrupt the flow of paint and lead to who-knows-what.

I then added some thin acrylic paint in,I hope,a random way.

Then I added some crimson paint and let it flow. Surprisingly it flowed in the valleys.

That looked bit stark so I added other areas with a brush.

More red and yellow added.

I thought I would lighten the centre with some white.

More red and yellow added.

More tonal contrast needed.

This where it stands at the moment. A big danger now of it looking too “nice”. It must not be approaching a finish. More risks must be taken. I'll keep you posted.