Nearing the Finish Line and Other Extended Metaphors

This is the first time while painting this picture that I am laying down the background color while I work. The purpose of this is to get a softer "edge" between the facial fin and the background, which will add the illusion of depth, hopefully.

Here I have the fins, barbels, and bow tie mostly finished. I am quite happy with the sea weed part of the bow tie.

I begin the background.

I add a second layer onto the background. I was laying on paint rather heavily, but it kept drying on me before I could do a good blending job. I combated this issue with adding more solvent and consequently, more texture, but there are still parts that stick out. I will have to add greater contrast to the merman (especially the pipe) or the background so that he isn't disappearing completely into the blue in some places. Or, I could change the tint of the blue, but I think I should be working on adding more depth to the merman either way.

And now for some fun. This is part of my homework for my Advanced Studio Workshop. I know what you are thinking, "What? Homework already?" Yes, it is that hard core. For us drawing and painting majors, our assignment is to fill up a 100 page sketchbook while exploring a "visual idea". I decided to go with translating metaphors visually, which will help me practice working from text and using my imagination. You see, I am using few, if any, reference photos. This is something that I might do on occasion when making a thumbnail sketch, but I have not done any detailed rendering of an imaginative drawing since, maybe, elementary school. I am quite proud of this little guy as the only reference I used was my mind. The metaphor for this drawing is "Children have an enormous appetite for learning." I will put quotes around the metaphors I am using for each drawing.

"Apple of my eye."

  "Her face was a barren landscape of sorrow, parted by rivers of tears."

"Alice was thrilled when her idea began to bear fruit." That is a hamsterberry bush if you were wondering.