Starting a figurative painting with a oil pastel limited palette.

I have haitian roots and with this challenge  I will take some photo reference of my haitian heritage, this man is holding a shellfish, called « lambi » , it’s famous in the caribbean. It is a way of communicating, a instrument and also a symbol of opposition for Haitians.

This photo scared me at first because of the deep shadows, it took me one hour to create. I see a lot of imperfections and that’s fine because this is exactly what I expect with painting.

Here is a little process video