The Kittys

Aloha, Sorry for taking so long to get back to my blog...I just haven't had much energy for the last month or so. I still haven't began painting again yet, but I did take some pictures of my new kittys. They look like wild jungle cats...meet Billy & Bob.

Scarlet Macaws in Brazil

Last week on our way back from my radiation treatment I had my driver stop by the old building that used to belong to my chiropractor from brazil so that I could take a photo of this painting that I did for him in the eighties of these two scarlet macaws in their natural habitat in the Brazilian rainforest. Because of it's position high up on the wall of the waiting room I couldn't get a great shot of it, but after going up to the second level of the room I was able to get this photo of it. The painting measures 60" x 60" oil on canvas.

A Good Excuse

Sorry for going so long without posting something akin to progress on this blog, but I'm just not up to par these days.

That human under the blanket is me getting ready to receive my dose of radiation for the day. They made a mask over my face to keep me positioned for the rays that are being sent to my cancer that is in the base of my tongue. I get this treatment every weekday morning until the last dose on the 1st of February. Chemotherapy takes a lot more time to accomplish(5 hours), but it's only once a week on Fridays. Only twice more for that one.

Now To add to the mix, they've started me on another course of antibiotics to arrest this bronchitis that has been hanging on and an antivirul to knock out tht shingles that have started as a result of all the rest of what's been going on with me. And as of today...I've started having diarhea to make my life more completely miserable.

I was taking it one day at a time anyway, but now it seems to be more like one hour at a time.

I'll live through it, but I will be SOOOOOOOOOO glad when I can just be healthy again.

Mahalo nui loa for all your prayers.

Aloha, Timo

Doing the Best I can!

I got a little bit more done on Jenna's portrait, but I'm just not doing very well physically lately. This cancer treatment almost everyday really has started to get me down. My throat is so sore now that I can hardly stand to swallow anything cold or acidic at all. I feel bad about taking so long to get thie portrait done, but I want to do the best work I can still. So I wait until I feel at least able to stand and focus on the reference photos that I'm using to do this.
I'm glad that my client is a good friend who understands what's going on in my life right now and has the patience to wait for me to finish it.

Bringing it home

I'm still working on the portait of Jenna. It's going to be mostly be about the background today. I've decided to do something a bit different than what's in the reference photo that I'm using. I'm going to do some sky and ocean water behind her because it will bring it into harmony with the other elements of the composition. The original backdrop was too dark except for the palm leaves directly behind her.

More on Jenna

Another 4 hours at the easle has brought Jenna more into focus and likeness. Subtle changes can make really big differences in the accuracy of a depiction of a specific personality.
The next phase will be a bit looser in the application of pigments to create the scene and her garment and lei.

Starting a portrait of Jenna

This stage is actually the first 2 sessions of painting on this before I took the photo. About 7 hours of work so far. Off to a good start anyway.