"BEWARE THE WHALE THAT READS CROSSWORDS"

A bit of a change up, post-wise. Thought it might be neat to see my process in a different medium.

Continuing my fascination with maritime imagery, I knew I wanted to paint a beast of a whale and a boat made of crossword puzzles. Thus I began this little doodle on a yellow post-it probably while working on another project that was on my table.


By the second post-it, I realized I wanted to make my starving castaway a sailor and felt the image worked better weighted on the opposite side.


By this third one, which was only an overlay--I thought: "Why not have my mariner actually DOING the crossword?!"


I NEVER go this far with sketches or pre-painting. Usually opting to work things out on the canvas instead. However, there's something raw and bold about this little piece that's different than the final image, so I'm glad I did.


Then here it is in its completed state, albeit I skipped showing a few steps in terms of canvas prepping, collage application and underpainting. Perhaps another post. If you look closely, you can make out various words misspelled and crammed into the tiny crossword boxes.
"BEWARE THE WHALE THAT DOES CROSSWORDS"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
18"x36"