29 Faces, Day 26

Last night, just before going to bed, I opened my recycled book journal and gessoed a page, not having the slightest idea what I would do with it. When I awoke, it seemed that an idea had formed in my head and I set to work. The first order of business, of course, was to pour a cup of tea. Thankfully, Prince Charming had arisen before me and there was a hot pot of tea at the ready. A couple of sips of milky tea and I was ready to begin.

There was a rather large dark circle on the page that had not disappeared with the application of gesso. Should I put on another layer and wait for it to dry? That didn’t seem a good option because, by this time, I was ready to paint.

I didn’t think that I was awake enough to sketch, so I bypassed pencil and went directly to paint. I squeezed out some Paynes Gray onto the palette and dipped my brush. Painting in all of the dark areas, a face was already beginning to appear. I sat and drank my tea and poured another cup while the blue/gray paint dried. While pondering color choices, I decided to just go with some gesso for now to put in the lightest areas. This is where I’ve stopped. I rather like the monochromatic face staring back at me. Will she eventually have more color? Time, and more tea, will tell.