La Catrina

Watercolor on Arches cold-pressed 140 lbs, 11" x 15", October 2015.

Reference courtesy mizzd-stock fav.me/d39cqca and fav.me/d3f0f32 (#362)
With a little inspiration from fav.me/d6no0r9 and fav.me/d55dmd9

Who is La Catrina? www.sfgate.com/mexico/mexicomi…

I've lived in Arizona for over twenty years, and never really paid much attention to El Dia de los Muertos - the Day of the Dead. It is a Mexican holiday which celebrates death by remembering and honoring loved ones who have died. Then last year I attended my first Day of the Dead celebration, and really enjoyed it. In fact, I plan on attending this year's celebration this coming weekend.

So I've wanted to do this painting since last fall. I started on the sketch in the spring, and labored over it for many long months - nothing would come together. Finally by summer's end I was happy with the sketch, and ready to start painting. Not only was I able to take my time on this, but it's the first painting I've done in a long time that I did just for me, because I wanted to do it. And I'm thrilled with the result. It's rare for a finished piece of art to achieve the vision you had in your head at the start, but this painting has not only reached my vision for it but surpassed it. I might actually mat and frame this, which I rarely do (due to limited wall space and never being happy with the finished results).

Two firsts with this painting: I tried out my new Alizarin Crimson pigment with great results. It has now displaced Permanent Rose as my go-to red. Sorry, Permanent Rose! And I also used my new camera to photograph the finished painting. It has such better resolution than my old camera that I might actually be able to get a respectable quality print from it. Woo hoo!