hummingbird trajectories

This image is all about the darkness of the figures in the foreground, vs the light that rains down from above.  I must keep that in mind.  It defines the composition, the distance between the viewer and the pictorial space,  the plot, the weight of the bodies...everything.  Her floatiness is in counterpoint to their solidity.  I have added the drummer (minus the drum) to the right.  I like his glasses and his upturned face and his gaunt body.  Pouring the light onto him will be a challenge as his is not part of the original composition, as he looks on somewhat detached and guarded from behind his shades.  Today I  started adding the light.  I used titanium, for maximum opaqueness, mixed it with the terre verte as I develop the verdaccio layer.  I sort of attacked the smiling man, but I will go back and redo him, first with a verdaccio, and be patient about my progress.   I find the verdaccio layer  helps me define the bodies in a more substantial way, and that is useful.  One step at a time.  As I work each figure they acquire a role in the ensemble.  Their form and their role come into being at the same time, and that cannot be rushed.

I have  created two entries points into the picture, one emotional, in the manner of the man facing the viewer.  This smiling face and downward gaze and open body invite the viewer in.  Another opening is a figurative opening between the muscle man's back and the drummer.  Yes, the female figure (which I call Eve, as she walks away repentant cast out of eden) fills the space but not before allowing an entrance into the pictorial space. 

By the way, if you are wondering what the swirlies are at the top...over  the last three days  a humming bird has flown into my studio, doing a few loops and turns and then gratefully exiting through the window that I open for it.  At first I was terrified by its buglike buziness and nosedives, but now I look forward to the visits.   I record its trajectories in the space above.  I love that.