Summer Not Yet | Process

There are days I meet my son at the train station after school. This gives me roughly 15 minutes each way to sketch and paint. Most of the time I only remember to hit the record button after I start liking the painting and think, oh this would be a good one to share. The other day I finally remembered to record. This 2 minute video represents the 20~30 minute process. Autodesk Sketchbook only records the actual brush strokes and not the time spent thinking or color picking. So the video is only sped up 2 times faster. You should be able to follow each design decision along the way.

I am learning to stop and say, "that's good enough." Often the earlier stages of a painting are more interesting. Once an image gets overworked, something gets lost along the way. A freshness or the life of the process gets hidden. That's a danger in digital art, one that I have often succumbed to. I failed to finish her necklace but then again, what I gained through the process helps me rejoice in this painting.

Even though the colors evoke cold, the light hitting her neck warms things up. So, I couldn't make up my mind if it was a spring or summer. Today is dreary. Hence the title—Summer Not Yet.