Day 27. Cruising

“A Girl’s Best Friend” 6×6, oil on gessoboard $75. [creativ_button url=”http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/denise-hopkins/a-girls-best-friend/371120″ icon=”” label=”Buy Now” colour=”red” colour_custom=”#2e7bd3″ size=”medium” edge=”rounded” target=”_self”]

Yesterday we went to Mandeville lakefront to enjoy the weather. I took a ton of pictures of Ezra throwing rocks into the lake with some of his newfound friends. I even found an egret to stalk, but he was too far away to get anything good from my iphone. While pretending to look at photos on my phone, I snapped the photo I used as a reference for today’s painting. How does one take pictures of strangers without being creepy?

I am a bike lover. When I was younger, neighbors would see me riding around the neighborhood and say, “She looks so happy.” I simply cannot be sad when I’m riding my bike. But my bike isn’t beautiful like the one in this painting. It’s sporty, a hybrid road/mountain bike.

I was attempting to photograph just the bike, but my favorite shot was the one with its owner too, and she’s walking it along the path the way someone would a beloved dog– a sentiment with which I can relate.

I had to do a tiny today– 6x6in, and I’m revisiting the gessoboards. I’ve forgotten what great surfaces they are for the paint. They don’t seem to absorb it as much as the canvas. Plus, after 27 days my canvas supply is running a little low and my dick blick order won’t be in until next week.

I like this image so much, I might just revisit it on a larger surface later. I’m still feeling constricting by the tinys.