Despair

Despair
Oil on panel, 6x6

Oh my gosh - this was fun to paint! This is completely out of the realm in which I paint!  I am Suzie Sunshine to the core, and almost always paint happy, cheerful paintings full of peace and rest.  Well, today, I have jumped out of my comfort zone and tackled something dark and foreboding.  What is he thinking?  What has happened to this man?  The only panels I have left are primed in this pumpkin color, which is not what I prefer for portrait work.....but I think it adds to the drama in this case.  Following the rule "if in doubt - don't", I have loosely brushed in the masses and used my palette knife for additional shadow work.  I only washed over the background with some of shadow color, wiping off with a paper towel.  This took under an hour in it's small size.  Wild and crazy - this is my 428th painting in as many days :)