Work in Progress - DESIDERIUM

Desiderium: an ardent desire or longing; especially: a feeling of loss or grief for something lost.

Hi peeps, 

I finally started on this long-time-in-the-making piece so here are a few progress pictures.

First off, here's my rough hodge-podge ref made in Procreate :

I have been excited about painting this piece ever since I sketched it out, and the process is turning out to be quite therapeutic.

I'm not entirely sure about the title yet. I love the meaning of the word, but I also want the meaning to be accessible and immediately understandable, so I worry it is a little obscure? Not sure. What do you think?

I was really worried the paper was not going to behave because not only is it a little old now, I also haven't been treating it as well as it deserved (oops). But good news, it's been very cooperative so far!

I started off by applying some masking fluid to the parts of the sky I am hoping to keep white and bright. 

The biggest range of values and colours will be in the sky, and it will take quite a few layers to get to the intensity level I am hoping for, but it is building up slowly. 

Scans are always so frustrating because so many of the subtle colours and layers get lost in the process...and this piece will be all about subtle hues and details as it is essentially a landscape painting, haha. 

I have opted to paint all the way to the edge of the paper, as I feel it goes well with the meaning and the feeling of open space and scenery extending beyond the bounds of the image. But it does mean I can't tape my paper down and it is proving quite a fun little challenge to regularly have to move the clips to strategic points. XD

Anyway, here's the piece so far. 

I am loving the process and am keen to work on it regularly. 

I am drowning in admin and other non-art work tasks, but carving out some time to work on pieces I am excited by is doing wonders for my fraying mental health (constant health issues are so much fun) so I will hopefully have more updates soon. 

I'd love to hear what you think so far as well as how you are doing!

All my love, 

Myriam