Before the race two - final pass... getting there slowly!

I'm slowly getting used to thicker paint and leaving the marks of brush strokes intact...

... 2 color passes (after the underpainting) would be a noble objective to attain with future paintings. I'm trying to diminish my reliance on multiple layers with semi-transparent colors. I want to use heavier bodied paint in the future without compromising too much on that approach which leverages both the canvas and the underpainting, and the alternation of cool and warm colors.

Before the race two - 2nd pass... still experimenting with brush strokes and thicker paint...

I'll let this one rest for a day before its finalization with surgical brush strokes here and there.

I like the more pronounced character just after a second pass, i.e., less build up and more direct painting. This is a higher key than what I'm used to... a new tendency for me...

Before the race two - first pass... letting go as if having nothing to lose!

After my few recent blatant failures while pushing the envelope (most of my paintings are half failures or a collection of failures), I'm suddenly getting used to fail... and I seem to be in the mood to break the stiffness associated with not wanting to fail!

With this one, I'd like to swing back to hot colors and try to express the intensity and sheer determination before the race... I'm going for a red bull, literally!

Interesting concept here: it seems that I've managed to drag into this work the post-failure nonchalance from my previous painting, as if letting go after having given up... but right from the start! I've got to keep that mess intact!

Racing start IV... I lost face and gave up!

For some reason, I lost the look of the face I wanted... and couldn't recuperate it back for all the gold in the world... I did get a few interesting brush strokes in the background area... something to save for future use!


After a coat of pure black I decided not to flog this dead horse any further. I guess with experimentation there is risk... and failure! There is a price for freedom!

Interesting concept: I got expressionism out of frustration with this one!

Racing start IV - step II... having a hard time approximating the approximate face!

With this second pass, I tried the best I could to get close to the color scheme I'm after while starting to correct any anatomical flaws which, in my case, seem only evident once I've applied the first color layer!

For some reason, the head gave me troubles at this stage (head too narrow, shoulders too wide).

I think I now have the foundation I need to let go ... I should lay it really thick on this one for a change... live with my brush marks for a change!

Note to self: "if I'm still bogged down with proportions... this is no freedom!"

Racing start IV - step I... trying hard to ride the wave of chaos!

My failed "racing start III" seems to have spurred me to take definitive action! Here 's another attempt to depart once and for all from pure realism... an attempt to suggest rather than to describe... an attempt to achieve freedom!

I don't seem to know where to start... let's hope I know how to finish!

After the race II - final step... not painting per se but something about painting!

As I was finalizing this painting on rather shaky grounds for me, the "image maker" kicked in... this is when everything goes, short of stepping on a canvas with dirty feet... in this instance, to get some warm purplish greys!

The question is: "is this painting?"