The ice storm that plagued Ontario this weekend, forced us to hibernate all day on Saturday. It was wild to see on Sunday how the ice had just clung to everything for dear life, as it started to melt and came crashing down off power lines and tree branches. In our own backyard we had a couple of hedges come down with the weight of it all.
We were very fortunate that that was the only impact for us personally (that and having to chip the ice away from the walkway and cars). We maintained power other than a couple of flickers and were able to hole up at home. And because it was a day where we didn't even need to put on real clothes, I was able to get lost in this painting.
The night before I had blocked in the colours, but I wasn't completely happy with the shapes and eye placement. I really struggle with eye placement on profile views, and it makes a HUGE difference because even if you cannot nail down what it is, you know something is wrong as soon as you look at it.
(Look at that eye - it's so off it doesn't even know how wrong it is...and the mama bear got a nose job on day two as well)
I spent hours refining which colours and shades I was laying down and where. Polar bears are extra difficult in this regard (in my opinion) because photos of them tend to be of white bears on a white background in a flat open expanse. And the way their fur is, it does not really show the outline of their muscles or limbs well so that you can figure out where the light is hitting. The photo this image is based on is absolutely stunning, but very much lacking in shadows.
(You can see the original image here. I flipped it because I didn't want to cover up the bright greens on the left hand side of the backdrop.)
(Unfortunately I wasn't able to save the pinks though - that is the hard part with these backdrops. Sometimes I have to cover over my favourite parts for the sake of the composition).
This painting was what I started on as soon as I got up, and I did not realize what time it was until around 2:30PM. It absolutely consumed me and I am so happy it did.
It took me longer than usual to come up with a name. Now after toying between "Reassurance" and "It's All Going to Be OK", I've decided on the latter. It's something I've needed reminders of this past week when thinking about this business, and it is something I would actually say to my kiddos when they have their own doubts and fears.
It's all going to be ok.