Who are These People

These People on cardboard by Sharon Tomlinson

Who are these people?

That Sunday back in October when I initiated the Attic Studio and documented the event on Instagram with the above photo was a beginning.

It was a beginning of a huge attic studio project; the details of which I will save for another post.

Not until I posted it on Instagram did I see the haunting white face right there near the middle.

Do you see him? 

I got pretty excited but this is when we were having big rain and wind storms and I didn't go back over for a few days. 

All the time, I would pull up the photo and wonder about who he was and how I would paint him.

I really did get myself worked up about the process.

At last we had a clear day and I rushed over to look at the face in-real-life to see how in the world I had overlooked him.

At first glance, Oh No!

He's gone!

In shock, I remembered the quick documentary photo shot was just a moment in time. 

I had totally forgotten that in the zone and flow of the day in the attic studio, I kept pushing cheap pastel craft paint around with a cheap foam brush on this big piece of cardboard.

And he was gone!  

I was back to no inspiration with this piece which was my starting place when I first sat down at the easel in the attic back in October. 

I left it be.

As stupid as it sounds, I grieved about the loss of this phantom (a physical manifestation of the soul or spirit of a deceased person) face.

Time passed and I finally was ready to face the project again. 

Due to the cold, I decided to fetch the cardboard and paint here in my warm home studio. 

 I propped it up in front of me while in the cozy chair zone just thinking about what I would do next. 

He was sure enough gone. 

So I flipped it over with the up side down

and

lo and behold!

There are people on it!

I would probably never have looked for them were it not for him. 

 Here they are after I lightly penciled around the shapes that clearly were people. 

 Sometimes it's not about pretty faces. 

My technique is to capture what I see with minimum paint.

 This is not the first time A Group Of Strangers has shown up while I'm painting. 

I don't know who These People are but I'm pretty sure these people know my people.

I'm also pretty sure they have lots of stories to tell.

On that Sunday back in October when I started this project, I prepped and pushed paint around on several more cardboards. 

Yep, more people.

♥