Sunday night I drew a sketch on a canvas. Monday morning I began a painting. Tuesday afternoon it was done. Each part of the process was great. One thing I can’t stretch enough is to maintain awareness of what’s going on in the process of creation and execution, and what goes on inside the mind. That awareness can transform the way an art piece is approached. It can also change the way an art moment is perceived. Such awareness brings also a greater connection with the work and the surroundings.

So, I did. From the time I began drawing I tried to study each moment. I reviewed my technique and provided closed attention to how I wanted to proceed to painting it. At that moment I had a good idea of what I wanted to do. To my surprise, the brush strokes began flowing better than I thought possible while I painted the background. The colors came together nicely. Once the colorful background was complete, I began working with the figure.

I tried to understand each shadow and each brush stroke leading to the shades I wanted to achieve. I was looking for an almost monochromatic figure and at the end it was accomplished. I wanted to pay close attention to the face and the detail of the eyes and I am very satisfied with the results. I really enjoyed working on this painting. I can’t stop staring at it, specially at the details. There is no title yet for this painting but I am considering working on a new painting following these steps. That is another upside of the awareness I mentioned before: by keeping track of the steps and technique it is possible to reproduce them in a new project. Now that the painting is ready for sale, I am ready to begin a new one.