The earlier paintings were mostly a warm-up. I mean, I do love them, they stand well on their own, they certainly aren’t mere sketches. However, they weren't the main part of the show.
If anything, they were a ritual, calling forth the elements in preparation for the work that had been sitting in my head saying, “almost, but not yet.” There was air. There was water. There was fire. There was earth. There was the passage of time itself. Now, I think I am ready for the work.
Here is one of my sketches done on a black and white print-out of a photo. I call it a sketch, but it's more like a tracing. I am simply enhancing the outlines that were already present in the original photo.
It's all there, the creature, the human that is completely unaware, even its eye staring at the human. When I complete the painting, I will share the original photo too, in case you don't believe me.
I wonder if the person standing there felt like they were being watched.