My life is spent in the process: of becoming, of doing, of simply being. Today’s process involves a new pursuit.

A friend of mine is clairvoyant. She suggested to me that I start doing Spirit Portraits of “real people” as part of my readings offerings.  I have always thought that I would like to do that, but had not pursued it. On her suggestion, I decided to really investigate how I could do that quickly, and figure out the logistics and feasibility as well as the demand for such offerings. This painting is the first project in that investigation.

Well, I have these ideas. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. The jury’s still out on this one. Another hour or two of work more and it’s still not complete. That’s not counting the overnight drying time for what I thought was going to help whizz the process along.

I am working on developing a process that will allow me to work quickly. This didn’t, but I learned quite a bit. I found that I can use Golden Acrylic Glazing liquid over the watercolor pencil layer to seal it. That’s important info. I learned that I can lay down washes of acrylic and keep them fairly transparent with water, and a little of the same glazing liquid. It does not dry really quick when I lay some plastic wrap on it however. And, if I don’t add enough water, the resultant texture is pretty darn well ensconced. I also re-affirmed that I can work with my prismacolor pencils right on top of the acrylics. And I was re-reminded how I love working in acrylics for bright colors and quick work.

I might  just decide to prime my canvases with watercolor ground and go back to my watercolor and prismacolor approach. It would not be as quick, but it does have that magical quality that nothing else so far does.