I woke up today observing a very lame day but then, I knew it was all going to change when I lay my hands on my art equipment to make either a painting or a drawing, and something crept into my thoughts......
I made the above painting considering what's currently going on in my society and country (Nigeria), there has been some many unlawful killings and violations of the people's Human rights by some Nigerian police officers, and there has been some many protest movements on the streets of Nigeria in these couple of days, be it peaceful or violent, the protest are really going on.
But in the mist of the internal crisis, I realized that this very fight is just like fighting oneself, killing and hurting oneself because, these police officers are meant to protect us and not all of them are actually killing us, and if we resort back to killing some officers too, we might end up killing the innocent ones. With all in all, whichever way it goes, if citizens die, Nigeria loses, if police officers die, Nigeria is lost. It's out soil and country, and we have to be very careful with it!
Outlines...
Until yesterday, the paper I had access today wasn't as bad so I made my quick sketch on it but I still didn't want to make my painting with the wet on wet technique today, so I did wet in dry like yesterday.
I intended to have a very greenish background for this painting but at first, I couldn't get what I truly wanted so I had to started with the colour I got which was too bright for a kind of background I wanted.
I added some dark and darker values of green color to the background but then, I still have the background too light and bright compare to what I wanted or needed.
At this stage, I tried to beat down the brightness of the background and make the first layer of the Human hands.
I added some other darker values to the hands with some little vivid details, and some drops of paints depicting some sand particles on the hands.
I painting the sand/soil on the hands with some different values and tones of brown.
Detailing, final touches and my signature!
I would love to hear and read your thoughts and comments on this painting and the story behind it. Thanks.