Re Unite-Ted WIP1

 I'm working on another Ted themed painting at the moment.

 I had this wonderful reference of another of the volunteers at the local pioneer village that has been on my 'to paint' list for a while now ( I just loved his smiling face). Whenever we visit the village I always like to go and chat to this old gentleman. He has such wonderful stories of his life, particularly his childhood and he relates his memories with such life and animation so he seemed the obvious subject for this particular Ted word painting.

I have now finished the background apart from a couple of washes which will go over both the subjects and background and today began working on the man's face. It's such a delight bringing his character to life as I begin underpinning his features. Of course, I had to begin with his eyes. Don't they just ooze mischief and delight even at this early stage.

I wanted the background to become his memory, in essance a metaphorical tunnel back to his childhood and to mirror so many of our feelings about growing older. It is symbolic of life really because when we are children, we are so eager to forsake what represents youth and grow up. In contrast when we are older something like looking at a much loved teddy makes us yearn with fond memories for those innocent times once more and make us wish we hadn't been in such a hurry to become an adult.

Ona