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With this piece, I didn't take any process images. . . because it was that kind of week. I was busy getting used to Twitter (I'm @Brianliesbooks), and I was preparing for tomorrow's blog feature, the first guest blogger on Midweek Musings (come back tomorrow to see who it is! Teaser: she creates some of the funniest, quirkiest book characters I've met from below the Mason-Dixon line).
OK, it wasn't all work. I was also dealing with the loss of a 20-year-old dishwasher and haunting Craigslist for a drum kit.
For this painting, I began with my traditional burnt sienna and burnt umber underpainting (seen here in the piano bench). Looking at my rough sketch, I decided I wanted to keep it very tonal with Ludwig's scarf/ascot appearing as the strongest color in the piece. I also wanted to emphasize the pathetic nature of a pianist /composer playing with his thumbs, and the absolute black of the wing-bones creates a nice contrast against the sheet music to do that. I also added one of Ludwig's feet in the final painting� the poor guy can't touch the piano's pedals, either.
