I never really have an idea of what I want to paint until it is happening. For this one, as I started, I began seeing a silhouette emerge. I decided then to make one counterbalance it on the opposite side. At that point, the jawline of the very basic profiles began to remind me of either shoulder blades or pectoral muscles.
I just finished painting a face a few days ago, so I wanted to do something different. I also wanted to challenge myself and attempt hair. I've always enjoyed that area within the cervical spine coupled with an extended neck, so that was the direction I wanted to take here.
Everything looks messy when it is just the first layering. The more layers, I can build, the greater the depth.
After building up a little more, I had wanted to use Micron pens to add more details to truly tell that there are two faces carrying the weight on one's shoulders.
The next photo is where I am at now. The faces progressed into shoulders. The shoulders gave way to arms. As I started building the highlights and low lights in the hair, I saw the arms were now becoming roots and the hair is turning into tree bark. A very messv next phase, but I wanted to get the general area I am next going to focus on down while the concept was still fresh in my head.
Next, I'll develop the tree area.
"As Above, So Below."