The Painter's Assistant

I've just finished a large painting for this summer's show at Dowling Walsh Gallery. The 76” x 58” piece is an aerial view of a model and my younger son daydreaming as they lie on their backs on the blacktop of a local schoolyard. They're surrounded by bits of lazy summer life: discarded shoes, a bicycle, a cootie catcher (remember those?). And they're inscribed with chalk drawings that make the scene more fanciful. As I was working on the final details for the piece, I sought inspiration for the chalk drawings. I asked Corin to doodle on the lower portion of the canvas with some sidewalk chalk. I wiped out many of his drawings, but kept a couple of them and copied them over in paint before erasing his originals. Should the piece sell, I have a feeling I will owe him a few ice cream cones as compensation.