With the imminent arrival of the eminent Myrna Minx, chieftain of the SL0 tribe, I was in a crunch to find some wealth or gift or talent to share at CG0's first ever Potlatch. Where better to find inspiration than the SF0 tasks list?

Myrna's player photo is striking to say the least. Since I have no particular talent or formal training in the use of paints and brushes, I thought the Player Portrait would be an entertaining challenge. The results of this little foray into the right side of my brain, for good or ill, could make an appropriate gift for the visiting chieftain.

I paid another visit to the ever helpful and pleasantly friendly folks at Blick to pick up some supplies. It was my first time buying a real canvas. It was surprisingly exciting. I felt too legit to quit. With limited time remaining for the painting to be complete and dry, I chose acrylic paints as my medium: Mars Black, Titanium White and Crimson. Finally, a lovely set of three brushes made with 100% genuine synthetic hair.

The next step was to get into costume. I can't truly be an artist without an apron and beret, right? I don't actually own a beret unfortunately. An ivy cap was the closest approximation I had available. Regardless, the hat did not last long. My hair tends to reject most headwear after an hour, but I think I sufficiently absorbed whatever talent boost it had to offer before removing it.

I printed out an 8x10 color copy of Myrna's photo as a reference for a quick pencil sketch on the canvas. I'm not sure if this is what you're supposed to do, but free-form painting seemed a tad too risky. I needed a certain level of structure in place before I could proceed to the messy painty fun part. In regards to the actual act of painting, I have but this to say: Blending colors, fun! Recreating color blends, pain in ass!

The presentation of the final product to Chieftain Minx last night seemed well received. There was definitely something satisfyingly zen in the act of creating something to simply give away. *eyeballs the Make Someone's Day task* Mm, zen tasking.