As I’ve mentioned, digital painting is a great way to kill time on an overseas flight. I took this photo on Saturday outside of an enoteca in Florence. Using some of the concepts I learned over the last few weeks, I was able to paint this freehand in a couple hours. Thus proving that the most time-consuming part of oil painting is dealing the messy paint!

I’m ramping down, clearly. One of the only things I sketched today was Donatello’s sculpture “Abacuc,” in the Opera del Duomo museum. Next post will be made in the U.S.A. Get’r done.

Meet Rachel. Or maybe it’s her older sister, or her distant cousin, but it was definitely American art student Rachel who sat patiently for 7 days while I slathered pigment across canvas with nearly the dexterity of that painting elephant. She approves!

Aren’t you getting sick of this lovely face? Me too! But I think I made it better, at least. The hair is still retarded, but I have 6 more hours to figure that out! And then I’ll stuff my face with Italian food for most of the following 36 hours!

Well, I’d hoped to have something a bit less flat-looking by the end of the day, but it’s all part of the learning process. To paint a picture, you have to juggle a lot of divergent concepts, such as 2-dimensional measurement, how 3-D objects behave in light, perception of tone and hue, and knowledge of anatomy. Add to that the learning curve of figuring out how oil paints behave and the mad-scientist chemicals you need at your disposal, and it’s no wonder a newbie is limping toward the finish line!