Sixteen Miles

16 Miles by Ego Likeness
Take what's yours and go while you still can while it's still dark outside before he's cold.
Law man come into your broken home hide the hammer draw the blinds grab the little one and go.
You've got 16 miles of wasteland left to go.

Hike up your skirt now you better run girl run. Hike up your skirt now you better run girl run.
Before they find out what you've done. Before they find out what you've done. You'd better run girl run.

The truth smashed into your face like his big hard hand. Ripped up your hope ripped up your dress.
This was your empire o queen of all that's pure. Until he broke your crown burned your kingdom down

You've got 16 miles of wasteland left to go before the morning comes you've got 16 miles of wasteland left to go.


*******

It's January!!! Well, it was, but I worked so much overtime that my January tradition got pushed into February this year. Every January, I paint my original character, Astrid, in a relevant environment.

My goals are:
*Outdo the previous year's painting
*Set the bar high for next year's painting
*Make something I'm proud of

I love doing these - this is my 5th year doing this and I'm always very happy with what I paint.

What I've Learned Since Last Time

I think the most important thing I learned from last year's painting was to OBSESS over reference.

The 2008 Ast painting received a Daily Deviation, which brought it a ton of attention. Most comments were brief and kind, but it also seemed like every violinist in the world wanted to tell me I got the instrument and the pose wrong. I'm not used to my art being seen by many people outside of my immediate family and friends, so it came as a shock when hundreds of people saw it and commented on it.

I get criticism, constructive and otherwise, all the time at work, which I consider part of the job, but I used to regard my personal paintings as something a little more sacred and private than my paid work.

I went back and improved the piece based on the feedback, but the incident made me wish DDs came with a "Thanks, but no thanks" switch the artist could throw because the community can give you a good roasting if you got something wrong!
I won't be so lazy again. I tried to do better this time with yet another unfamiliar set of subjects (horses, trees) by looking at a lot of references. I think I improved a lot this year and I'm already eager to start next year's.

Annual Astrid Painting Series:
January 2008: [link]
January 2007: [link]
January 2006: [link]
January 2005: [link]

Sixteen Miles Step by Step Progression: [link]