Sometimes the progress of a painting, from idea to sketch to canvas or panel, can go really slow. I have one right now on my easel that I know is going to take a long time till it’s finished. My vision for it is just not that clear.
However, this one painting that I worked on today, called The Barista went rather quickly from idea to sketch to panel. I was doodling for ideas in my sketchbook last weekend when I came up with this idea. The next day, while watching an NBA playoff game, I made a more detailed sketch with a ballpoint pen in a sketchbook as shown below.
I wasn’t sure yet whether to turn it into a painting but as this weekend came along I decided to do it. There was already a gessoed panel that was of the same proportion so I quickly transferred the drawing using the grid method.
After about two hours of painting, I had the painting as shown at the top. It’s about finished but there’s some more things I want to do with it. I’m going to take a long look at it and then see what I’ll do. It could change a little bit the next time I work on it but I think it should come out a little bit better.