AWAY
12"x12" charcoal and acrylic on wood panel.

STORY: I started with an abstracted charcoal drawing of an upper torso. I often make expansive shapes above the head to eiether represent wild hair or the expansion of the mind and the imagination.
Then I filled in the spaces with acrylic paint. This is the first time I was painting with this method. The dryness of the charcoal against the wet paint was difficult to navigate and left my paint markings more obvious than I would normally leave them. This look grew on me and I kept it. Both the drawing and the painting happened in an automatic flow state. I didn't have a specific plan for where it was going, but I was coasting on whim and my emotions, and thinking about the kind of year I had experienced. Finally, I wiped away all the remaining charcoal and replaced the lines with solid black paint.