Mountain Music
Watercolor on paper
(Click on the image for a larger view)
In my last post, I wrote about the experience of drawing a group of North Carolina mountain musicians while they were playing together at a friend's birthday party. Mountain music has very deep roots, and the act of playing it brings together people of all skill levels. Some of the people at this party were world-class musicians while others are still taking classes. Didn't matter: as long as your heart was in it, you were accepted. The goal wasn't to show off individual skills, it was to work with everybody else to make something beautiful.
I did most of the drawing for this painting right there, sketching with my pencil, trying to capture the likenesses and capture the feeling. Later, in the studio, I added some more people, refined the sketches, then brought in some ink, and then the watercolor. This approached stressed liveliness, which matched the feeling I got from the musicians. And here's how it turned out. If you click on the picture, it'll bring up a larger version.
This is part of my series of artworks done live at weddings, birthdays, and other events. It's really fun to do them, and very rewarding to make something that will be treasured for years. More information about this line of work is on my Asheville Event Paintings website. So what do you think - success, or no?
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