Dancing on the Edge of Danger

"Dancing on the Edge of Danger"  (oil, 6x6 inches)   click here to bid

OK, I have to admit this one is my favorite. I painted it right along with "Dangerous Gull" a few days ago. I just felt that, at the time, the technique, the lighting, the values, the movement and the meaning of the piece just came together along with having no struggles of any kind with the actual painting process, that I decided to put a higher starting bid on this one, because I know that either it will easily sell for twice as much at an art fair, or, darn it, I'll keep it!!

(BTW: this is the last of this little series of gulls for a while. I'll be sketching portraits at the San Antonio Rodeo for the next 3 weeks...)

I managed to get some progression shots of the painting process, here:

First I started with a drawing on  Ampersand Gessoboard. (You can see "Dangerous Gull" on the left)

Then a wash of burnt umber with a bit of cadmium yellow, gently smoothed with a paper towel.

Here's the start of the 'lifting' off in the highlight areas. This is done with a brush dipped in mineral spirits and lightly swiped on a paper towel.

Here's with all the highlight areas lifted off.

Here the darks have been put in with burnt umber, pure from the tube.

Just a shot to show how I work from my iPad on 2 paintings at a time. For these two, I kept "Danger: Gull!" handy for color reference.

Here are the colors on the bird itself...

...And finished with the sky and sign...