Shiva begins

to come to life

I used the center line to place the Shiva figure on the big black canvas, sketching it in with black charcoal. I always rub my face and look like a coal miner during intense drawing sessions, it's kinda funny.

I'm having troubles placing the drum hand, it's still not resolved but I'm going to sit on it and see how the other stuff develops compositionally and allow it to unfold. creativity should be a risk. Artists need to take them, otherwise it would be paint by numbers.

In the next session, I whipped out the airbrush. I blocked in with red the general location and shape of the background flame. I am painting the red first which represents the flames that are furthest away. As I continue, I will paint lighter and lighter colors layered on top.

On the floor is the little compressor and some black and white reference photos. This is my first time really using an airbrush (another risk). I like it but it does take some practice.  I still might be faster by hand but I really want to get this fire to look real rather than graphical.

I revisited some blacks to help create some depth and allowed it to drip to add some interest and texture. This paint is supposed to be dry if not heat set, so I am going to wait a day to ensure it is at least dry enough to continue painting the layers.