Down on his Luck, for Willie's Pocket

Down on his Luck, Homeless Person. For Willie's pocket. I painted this today with a large wolf-hair Chinese bamboo brush in a small watercolor Moleskine (my current wc sketchbook). I was using a technique different than what I've been trying to do normally (Which is wet into techniques and washes and glazing/layers etc.) Normally, I use different size brushes for different amounts of detail, not one huge brush for everything. This brush is new to me, holds a lot of water, but seems to dry out fast, so water management is an issue--it's either too runny or too dry. (I guess you learn these things. like anything else.) And there is very little control, since the brush is so big and floppy and tends to feather out. The idea is, I guess, that it gives the painting looser, freer look.

This, by the way, never was supposed to be Keith, I was looking at a picture of a homeless man. NOT the one Keith is modeling. I'm saying that because it sort of slightly resembles all those pix of Keith, but it is not a failed portrait of Keith, LOL!

If you click on the image it will enlarge to about 4 times the original size of the painting.