Miriam Badyrka is The Doodler

The Bike, Part 3

The Bike, Part 2

The frame finally has its base layer of paint. I painted layer after layer to get good color density. I really don't mind doing it, I find it meditative and soothing. However, this has made it take much longer than I had intended. As of now, I am hoping to have it done by the end of the week. Cross your fingers for me!

The design has evolved as I have been painting. My only instructions from Ben were: "I like the bright colors and the swirly stuff" and "I am not crazy about flowers."

My first intention was to make it entirely abstract, but I didn't take into account the Round Factor.

I normally paint on a 2 dimensional plain. I  am able to control where you look and how your eye travels around the surface.

A 3 dimensional object can be approached from virtually anywhere. While the bike was entirely abstract, there was plenty of movement, but nowhere for the eye to pause and take in the whole. Because of the shape of the frame, it didn't lend itself to a grid (a favorite device of mine) as an organizing principle. As a piece of artwork, it looked unformed, unfinished and not well thought out.

The eyes came about as a way of giving a focal point, an entry way for the viewer.

The idea of using eyes, an image that I have used on and off over the years, solidified because of a childhood storybook, called Ping, a Duck. The duck and his family lived on a boat with wise old eyes on the Yangzee River. Painting eyes on your boat was a way of assuring that you will get home safely.

What a perfect thing to paint on a bike!

Now, I am off to paint the fork. Hopefully, that will go quickly and I can get start the over painting tomorrow. Please, please... because that is really the fun part.