Day 1: Surreal

Here’s the end of Day 1. Yes, it’s a weird one. And I have a title in mind but don’t want to tell you just yet. This painting was inspired by the antique monkey I found on Facebook Marketplace. I named him Thelonious Monkey. When I’m done painting this, I’ll replace the string of Christmas lights I’d stuck on his upraised hand. I had to take them off to see what I was doing when trying to draw him in. Notice how I set him up on a little table? I wanted to get the effect of him looking down on the viewer.

It was tricky. When I was drawing Thelonious in, the light was coming in from the left. But when he’s holding the string of Christmas lights in the painting, the light will be coming in from the lower right. Ach! Complications. Always complications. I had to think “the opposite”.

Working with sunlight glaring on the canvas — yikes! (above)

Then of course dear Picasso kept bugging me for treats and catnip and cuddles. Here he is, getting WASTED.

I sat in front of a big mirror to try to paint myself in, trying to make myself look like I was lying in bed. I used some photos of the cats to draw them in.

With all the distractions today from Picasso and the herd of deer (who came by several times for apples), plus the glaring sun falling on my canvas, I managed to get a lot done. The hardest part of it is over. Thank goodness!