In Progress: Untitled 3 (shoes)

"Untitled 3 (shoes)"

48"H by 48"W, on panel. 

(click for enlargement)

This behemoth of a work has to be done by the 22nd of this month in order to be eligible for this year's State Fair Fine Art Competition. Unfortunately I'm still grappling with major revisions to my initial composition, which can be seen in earlier entries- the initial photo scrap can be seen here.

It's not the biggest work I've ever done, but it is probably the largest one to feature so much detail. There's very little resting space for the eye and the entire work is intended to be high in contrast. As a result, I can work on it closely, and back away about twenty feet to evaluate what I've done, but medium distance is difficult because there are so many areas that distract from the area I'm attempting to focus on. I've considered placing paper over some areas to keep it from distracting me, but because I tend to work all at once on my reds, grays, blues, etc., I need to be able to move from one area to the next quickly.

I've given a lot of thought to the titles for these shoe works, and nothing I've generated or heard has really stuck to the idea wall. Ferreting out a title is an arduous process, especially since "Shoes" strikes me as being far too simplistic.