Greetings from the dead, everyone!

Hope the turn of the year has been a good one for y'all, be it with family, health, collections or any combination thereof.

I have to apologize for the dead halt that this thread has come to these past few of months. Actually, I feel like it's been more than a few. Things on a personal and professional level have been a bit on the crazy side. with the former, it's just still been really tough adjusting to my now 17-month old (!!!), who I'm with for the most part of everyday. Things had started to get a bit better by the last few months of 2016 with my wife and I being able to put him in daycare for about 20 hours a week, as well as various family members being able to watch him every now and again. So, that did free up some time for painting.

However, I also had some projects I had been neglecting for a long while which absolutely needed to be completed, and that pretty much ate up the last four months or so of the prior year (I'm hoping that I can post that stuff on the regular easel thread soon, as I think the work is really strong). For what it's worth, all of this stuff I have been updating Chris about, and he's been really great with his patience and understanding, something I can't thank him enough for.

So, now I'm trying to get back into the swing of things with Jose, and this thread certainly needed an update.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...sdyriu2cm.jpeg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...sklyqxk9r.jpeg

Since the last time I posted, I'd been picking away at a lot of things. The background being the main thing, as there was just a lot of canvas to cover. Though the brownish tonal wash was already on the surface, it was important to start putting in general value and color relationships so that the crowd would actually start looking like a crowd, rather than just a bunch of shapes. It's one of those weird situations where even though that background plane is just a bunch of people with their arms and hands up, they need to sit properly in space. Sure, they're on top of each other and what-not, but they also need to look like they're reseeding - going back into the different rows of the stands.

I've also been working a bit on Jose himself, mostly on his head and upper body. It's been fun/murder trying to get to some of these little details, whether it's the writing on his batting gloves, the gleam on his helmet, or some of the subtle temperature shifts in his face and beard. But, I think it's all starting to come together there.

Also, you may notice that the piece is lit a bit differently from the last time I showed a photo of it. I did so because there are some spots on the canvas looking rather gray or matte - which is due to the nature of how some of these mixtures dry - and my normal fluorescent bulbs really accentuate that and make it tougher to shoot. As I work back into the piece (especially towards the end), the whole thing will be completely oiled out and have a uniform gloss and richness. So, those photographs will probably have a bit more 'oomph' to them.

Anywho, I hope y'all are diggin' what you're seeing. Again, I'm sorry it's been so long between updates, but I'm hoping to be back more regularly, and will hopefully get this done in the next month or so. As I inch closer, I'll be posting all of the updates that are fit to print.

If anyone has any questions, critiques, problems, whatever, feel free to fire away!

Thanks for reading, and also thanks for all of your patience!

Graig

Your work is simply amazing, it looks awesome!

Thanks so much, Ben! :)

You have this amazing talent to make a players face just pop. The rest of the painting looks great too but to me the faces are amazing. It is why I love your studies so much.

Thanks a lot, Ben. That's what those color studies are all about - those faces are the focal points, so they'll always pop the most.

Agreed! Now, if the Jays and Jose could agree on a one year deal!

Always love that you take time out for our Art 101 class. I just hope you don't ever burn out with that talent of yours.

Rob M

btw, you're past the toughest part of the child rearing (the physical part anyway). That is, until number two, three, etc. come along. Just don't forget to set the paintbrush down cuz you never get that time back.

Thanks a lot, Rob. I'm definitely spending more time with my little guy than I am painting, which is both good and bad. The bad is that I'm even more behind than I thought I would be, but the good is that, like you mentioned, I'll never be able to get this tie back - the bond and memories I'm forming with him are beyond cool.

Graig -

I love the one dude in the stands who's looking back at his friend with his mouth wide open!! Everyone else (except Bautista) is watching the ball! Awesome work as always!!

The action in the stands/back of the image while I expect is not easy to paint adds a lot to the painting for me. The guy in front with the white shirt and tie is a Jays TV broadcaster that I have met a few times. It would be cool to be able to pick yourself out in the background of a notable image.