Eight down, two to go

With two more faces completed, I'm approaching my goal of producing ten mini-portraits for my "Denizens" series.  Number Seven is based on a memory drawing of a pale-eyed young man I spotted on the bus.  His features were quite sharp but he had a sweet open awareness of things going on around him.

He was with a  staid looking buddy, both of them carrying packs and hardhats -- but poking out of his, I detected what looked like a recorder -- so I've called the painting "Denizens Series - Musician."  (copyright 2019)

An equally fascinating sighting was a young woman on the coffee shop terrace at VanDusen Gardens.  Here's a sketchy glimpse of her:

Soon afterward, on a morning when I had leftover paint on my palette, I tried to capture her strong features -- and hair!!! -- in one of my funky cardboard sketches.

Meanwhile, the mystery remained. Who was she??  She seemed to be a visitor, solicitously hosted by a woman and man of about her own age who seemed to be almost fawning over her.  Was she their boss from Toronto head office?  A potential investor in their new start-up?  I’ll never know.  So with acknowledgment of facial features that appeared somewhat masculine, I’ve given her the gender non-specific title, “Denizens Series - Actor.” (copyright 2019)

Recently, I've been reading some stories by the noted 19^th-century French writer Guy deMaupassant.  I've been struck by the way his characters immediately come to life, immediately evoke the reader's attention and concern.  And I've recalled something he wrote that I've had posted on my bulletin board for many years:--

  

It is the lives we encounter that make life worth living.

 -- and it is the hint of lives encountered that makes the human figure and face so compelling to me.

Around the 'hood

Recently I began my "Denizens" series  with the goals of becoming more familiar with painting on canvas and more confident in painting heads/faces.  Generally, I find my subjects walking about or riding the bus.  Some, however, are just too fleeting like this striking seasonal zebra with attendant ghosts, courtesy of my beautiful young neighbour.  The zebra rotates between her and her twin sister so it's likely to haunt the premises again next Halloween.

But on to my wider neighbourhood.  The fifth of my Denizens is a guy who often sits across from me in the circle at the drawing studio.

He works seriously at his art and has a unique style, with a touch of Toulouse-Lautrec about it.  Here he is -- "Emerging Artist, age 70." (copyright 2019)

  

My sixth Denizen is one of those chance encounters -- a young woman glimpsed on the bus who seemed mostly golden, except for the white of her earbuds.  I call her "The Listener" (copyright 2019).

I'm over halfway to my goal of ten paintings of Denizens.  And just coincidentally, an artists' organization I belong to is having its annual "Ten by Ten" fundraiser.  It's a juried sale (and I'm not at that stage yet; not eligible to submit) of paintings measuring 10" x 10".  So what the heck.  I thought I'd have my own little show here -- three in a series that shows what can happen on 100 square inches of my palette.