Dappled Bathroom

After working on some job related tasks, I had an intense compulsion not to leave home and work on this oil pastel work which I sketched out just yesterday.

It's not finished in that I still have to apply textures on the tiles and "rationalize" a lot of the figure's bulges. For one thing, that shoulder muscle is looking a bit too masculine. I also need to correct some misplaced highlights on the figure's... ahem... butt. I was working on that a few minutes ago but the oil pastel kept on lifting. I had to fix the work first before proceeding on smoothing out the details on the figure's back. For one, I may need to look closer at the anatomy of this work. The shoulders and back muscles are way off.

There's something appealing in watching simple everyday scenes playing out in front of you. For me, I find it even more delightful to see the same things from peculiar vantage points. Looking at this scene from eye level, you would have missed that organic pattern on the tiles above the frame, or the dappling of sunlight below. And more importantly, you would have missed the quaint compositional unity that the figure makes and how it relates to all the oblique angles surrounding her.

I wasn't thinking about it consciously when I was planning this work or even while I was painting it, but looking at this piece now reminds me of Edgar Degas' "The Star" and his other works such as those depicting women bathing in shallow tubs, as well as "Woman Combing her Hair".

I admire Degas' work and when I was young, had been profoundly influenced by him. I didn't paint then but I was thinking that if I painted, I'd want to paint like him. I do remember wanting to mimick his shallow tub scenes and I think I went as far as drawing those paintings on ruled pad paper.

Funny how our influences have a knack of revealing themselves later on in life with no warning whatsoever.

On a final note, I feel that my skills have really improved since painting "Seven Cats" and "Painting Helena". My actions are more purposeful and reduntant applications of the medium have been reduced.

I'd probably finish this piece over the weekend. I'll be quite busy for the rest of the week with work and reviewing for the advance diver course I'm taking up. Plus, I have a freakin' research that's not going anywhere. This art thing is making me neglectful of my other "stuff".

I better get my affairs into order.

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