Indeterminate methods

This is one of those that you keep looking at and wondering, Is it finished? Should I stop now? It's mostly because the style shifted a couple of times mid-painting, so I don't know what I want it to express any more. I started out to do a wonky painting today, but once I picked out a model he refused to be wonky because his situation was too serious.

This is a child coal miner from West Virginia, from a black-and-white group shot of boys just up from their shift underground. I don't know what year it was, but it was obviously before unions were formed and child labor laws were enacted. He had such an angry little froggy face that I thought it would be a natural for a wonky, but no, he demanded I paint him straight.

I started out painting sort of like Lobenberg's style from yesterday, but even that seemed too frivolous in some ways (too colorful), and I then reverted to more of a Millind Mulick feel. So the painting became confused and confusing, and I didn't know where else to go with it. He also lost what was left of his childlike quality in the process. Here is where I stopped.

"Miner Boy"—Daler Rowney inks, pencil, Paul Jackson watercolors, on Fluid 140-lb. coldpress paper, 9x12 inches.