In the process of moving from pure landscapes into figural and narrative painting, I have found myself raiding my art library (I have long picked up enticing books second hand as I have found them) and sitting with them on the sofa in the evening. Spending all that time last year in the Musee d'Orsay started me on this path, and it's one that would benefit my work no matter what I'm painting. 

After finding my set of sketches from the Helga photos recently (you can see them in this blog post), I pulled out my book of the Helga photos to go back through. Mr. Darcy kept me company on my feet as I studied.

I did a sketch of the page with Overflow. I love this one. The art major in me who delighted in Northern Renaissance paintings with all their tiny symbolic elements loves the highly suggestive waterfall glimpsed in the corner of the window.  And the quote at the top of the page from Wyeth delighted me. "I think one's art goes as far and as deep as one's love goes.