Welcome back!

This week we will start on something entirely new.  It is seen below.

But wait you say, didn’t we leave this party just a few weeks ago?  Didn’t we wave Bode off into the sunset?  (Or at least until 2010, when he might resurface for a last chance at olympic gold.  He already has two silvers from Utah in 2002.)  Well yes, and no.  I’ll explain below.

This photo is far more subtle than the first Bode, full of interesting and dramatic shadows.  It will make for a much more interesting photo.  It almost has the quality of a painting already.  I was so taken with this photo that I had to paint it.  

I’m going to do this a bit more gradually than the last 2 cycles of this series.  Seen below are the first brushstrokes.

As always, setting the major elements on the canvas is important, and difficult for me.  It sets the stage for everything else to come.

In the following weeks I’ll add to this and attempt to provide a clear path of the steps I’ve taken.  See you next week.