Farewell to a Friend

Halfway through this one I had to stop and wonder where my ideas for paintings come from. I have no clue. Nothing precipitated this. No one's dog died and I've had no dreams or conversations about dogs dying. While I do not know where this idea came from, I knew what I wanted to paint before I started sketching this out. I painted her blouse red both to add color and to draw the eye. This is a grissaile. The detail is in the under-painting and the colors are applied in thin glazes. I think when I work in oils, this is my favorite technique.

I am playing hooky today. I should be at a meeting but I blew it off to paint and putter. I might even do some cleaning and I definitely need to take a shower. Good grief! It is one o'clock and I am still in my nightgown! This morning I woke up, made coffee and went right to work on finishing this. I frequently paint in my nightgowns which is why they all have paint on them. Not very sexy, but there is nothing sexy about long flannel night gown to begin with!

I have to add- it finally warmed up! Temperatures are back up in the 60's and 70's. Thank goodness! I was freezing my a**s off!