The Warclub, a painting "work in progress" Day4

Hi Everyone,
I apologize for taking so long to get this posted. I had it ready last week and didn't have the time to get it photographed and posted. I still don't feel that it's 100% finished, but it's close enough to post if framed on my website as finished. Also, I will be replacing this photo with a sharper version in the next couple of days. I've started using a Canon 40D DSLR and, at least for me, the learning curve has been steep. I long for the days of my old point and shoot Olympus Camedia C-5050!! But enough of that.

Here is the latest version of "Walk Softly" ( formerly "The Warclub"):





I decided to rename it to something a bit more creative and to make a play on an old saying. I feel that the name of a painting should be as creative as the work itself. It has to work as a whole. And if you find that you don't like a painting's name, you can always rename it ( as long as it hasn't sold yet).

Most of the work that's been done on it since my last post has been detailing. Tightening the features of the face. Painting in the hands. Working varied color temps into his buckskin shirt. I added rawhide decorations and feathers around the handle of the club itself. I noticed that the original shirt the model was wearing had puffy cuffs, which works for fabric shirts, but not for buckskin warshirts. So I had to rework the ends of the sleeves to be more like a jacket with fringe. As I painted him I tried to keep the edges softer to keep the painting from being too brutal. I especially worked on getting the blade to glint in the sunlight. Adding that glow is a great way to get your focus from the Mountain Man to the club. I kept the background subdued so that he really pops. I still need to flesh that background out a touch. But I wanted to wait until I had the figure just about done. That way I can add only as much as I need without having it compete with the figure.

Steve