dead.

this was one of those happy accident paintings.

dead

(zombie girl)

acrylic on canvas

2005

it began as something completely different. it's all a bit of a blur now, but i vaguely remember applying several layers of gesso, adding a bit of texture and loosely painting in some winged creature. when i hadn't even finished the underpainting, i scratched the whole thing and just started smothering the surface with a dark indigo color. it mixed with the wet gesso in such a way that i saw a face. so, i went with it.  about an hour later, i had her. completely just for fun. 

sure, i've always liked things a bit on the darker side, so painting a zombie girl is like another bowl of fruit for others. it is just one of those subject matters that i don't think about much, i just have fun with the paint. sometimes, you've just got to do something mindless to bring you elsewhere. simply doing is an important part of the creative process, especially if you're in a rut. 

plus, when zombies attack, i'm hoping i can win them over with a few portraits. genius.