As I approach making the second half of these 30” x 40” paintings on illustration board panels, the important thing for me is to make it clear that the background colors reflect the series’ name. These brighter colors in this series are titled “Conversation in the Middle of the Day.”

While it’s still important for me to put in more lines (drawing), the colors aim to reflect the mood and surroundings. It’s important for me to play the colors against each other. In particular, I like the Bombay fluid inks I’m using because they are very lightfast. They also dry with a seal to them. They impart a shine on their own, so they don’t need to be put under glass.

The more and more I find myself drawing with the paint again, something I used to do years ago with my oil paint, I find myself wanting to draw the color. I use fluid acrylics, which are especially perfect for drawing using my brush. In this way, the color can flow or follow along with the black lines. This gives another dimension to drawing within the colors, not only in black line art. The black lines are as much of the story as the color. Together, the color and the black lines become a unit. And it’s that unit that makes the story more important.