Sekouba Traore (2)

Sekouba Traore
9" x 5.5"
oil on wood, 2010

Once you start messing with a painting the end of it is a long ways away. That's just what I did; depicted above are snapshots of the Sekouba Traore painting after the third and fourth hour (see previous post) into the process. I moved the right (left in the picture) hand down as I wasn't pleased with the overall feel of the pose. This decision was made against the information from the photograph. Since this change I went on to substitute the unidentified straw-like object for a drum and I moved his left hand into a position above this drum. Trivial anecdotes can change the whole of a painting. The only thing I'm after really, is to capture Mr. Traore's likeness and spirit. I hope the final result will be worth the wait. To be continued in the next entry...
In the meantime I added psychological ballast to the process by promoting Traore's song Walinyumadon to the #1 spot for the time being. For the top 100 year of 2010 I have now made 10 top 10s. Throughout the year I will post every tenth top 10. This list of ten songs is a reflection of music I've listened to over the past five days.

1. Roberto Carlos Lange - Amazonian Pacific (from the LP Music for Memory I bought after a concert in Cincinnati)
2. Sekouba Traore - Walinyumadon
3. Vampyre Corpse - Dogs of War (the very last song from a CD tucked in the Metal magazine Zero Tolerance #33)
4. Julianna Barwick - Anjos (from Florine, as with Lange's LP I also bought this after her concert at the Country Club in Cincinnati)
5. Fort Shame - Avalache (because of work I unfortunately missed Record Day 2010, one of the most important days of the year. Fortunately my friend Sue Harshe, who sings it and wrote it too, saved me a copy of their Record Day freebie EP)
6. Burzum - Belus' Død (see blog entry 7)
7. No Gods No Bastards - No Gods No Bastards (after Country Club's Philip Valois already gave me a demo CD of his band, he forwarded me this link): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX6abUkdp0M
8. The Yardbirds - Train Kept a Rolling (I couldn't believe my own archive when I saw that these were the first three points ever for the Yardbirds in the 28 years of making top 10s. The recording features both Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, legends from our beloved history of Rock and Roll. I heard it on WCBE, the local NPR station.)
   
9. Mary Gauthier - Another Borrowed Day (same station, another day, heard it on The Global Village)
10. Helado Negro - Dahum (saw it on YouTube: one of Roberto Carlos Lange's bands)