Getting A Bride Ready

Last painting session ended with this:

Looks a bit like a ghost in a fabulous wig…  Interesting idea for a future piece now that I’ve said that. Let me write this down in my notebook…

In any case, the hair is a success. The next step is to paint her dress.  Her dress is meant to be white.  I had this original concept for her to be a lovely bride.  There’s a couple of companion pieces I have sketched that would be her bridesmaid & maid of honor.  Not set in stone yet though. We will see…

I saw this fashion dress somewhere that was made of all these ruffles all over it.  I liked the look and that’s what this one is based on.  Ruffles create all this texture that’s visually fun!

Next step is to paint the skin.  Although  I love the skin areas of my painting the most when they are done, I always know that this is the most intense part of them always.  Especially in one like this where there is no ‘break’ for me to be able to do sections one at a time.  There’s the face and there’s everything else… And they each have to be done as an entire block all at once.  Getting all those subtle tone changes in there is tricky. Verryyy tricky.

Sometimes there will be a necklace, a bracelet or the strap of a dress that will cut through the area so I can do them in multiple sections. Much easier. But today this was not meant to be.

I love the result though. LoooOove it! I mean, look at that shoulder!

Ok, back patting for me.

The faces I do in this style are also tricky because they are so simple that they have to be perfectly smooth and even.  But once again, worth every ounce of effort!

This lady is getting freckles. I was really looking forward to this small part. The little things sometimes make me smile the most.

I always think, at this stage, that it looks like a plaster sculpture almost.

Then I get to add the stark black parts & ruin that effect completely.

My lovely bride will be wearing black gloves & a black belt to her fancy white dress. I just love the contrast.

And just to finish off this session, I will start applying her makeup… Just the mascara though.

I don’t want to rush on the last few steps because they are very important ones.

Time for a break.

-MT

Bouncy Hair Challenge

A while back I had sketched a bunch of ideas for these classy lady paintings I do.  I have a bit of a stockpile of sketches in fact, so it’s nice once in a while to grab one and make it become reality.

This is the one I chose for the next project

 

Every time I do one of these Ladies I try to put an element in it I have not previously done in this style.  It keeps things interesting and I find it a challenge to adapt things from reality into a specific stylized world.  The result always looks fairly obvious but the process of figuring it out isn’t always.  It is, however, always exciting.

In this one I decided to try and do bouncy hair.  Yes that’s right, bouncy hair.  Fun right?

Also some freckles as an added bonus.

The step after a good sketch is to transfer it to canvas.

 

I draw it out as accurately as possible.  When working on a canvas large enough, sometimes I use a projector.  That way the lines are exactly as they are on the sketch.  Smaller canvases I can just free hand the entire thing.  I find it has a nicer natural flow to it when done like this so even if I do use the projector, I go back over the copied lines and tweak them.

Each method has it’s strengths and weaknesses so you have to know what works best for each projects

 

Next up is painting the background.  I keep it very messy.  Big bold brush strokes.  The lady is mostly very pale in color. White dress, fair skin, light hair.  So I’ve decided on a darker background for contrast.

I wasn’t sure if this might be a tad too dark but I decided to move forward and figure it out later.

 

And let’s see if we are up to the bouncy hair challenge!  So far I’m liking how it’s turning out.  A small section like this takes a fair amount of time to do.  I always underestimate time.  You get lost in the work and it just disappears on you.  Crazy!

 

And we have the hair completed!  I am really really excited at this point.  I loooove how it turned out.  This is the stage at which I end the painting for the day but carry it around the house everywhere I go.

Whattt?!  Looking at it incessantly helps me plan the next steps AND see what adjustments need to be made!

What can I say?  Art is a very obsessive kind of profession.  I’m used to the eye rolls so go ahead everyone…

-MT

Flashback Friday

Haven’t had a Flashback Friday in a while and I’ve received complaints (if you can believe it)

All good natured though, which is why it’s making a comeback this week!  Also I love them too!!

When I was little, I loved doing odd art experiments & tests.  Looking back at them today I still find them immensely interesting.

For example:

This particular experiment/test consisted of me doing a simple self portrait of myself (the one on the right) and then trying to do the same on the left BUT with my  eyes closed.

I think it was just to see how good I was at sketching with no sight because why not.  I was always curious about things like that.

I think that’s fascinating stuff right there!

Which is why… I’m going to try it again! Right now before your eyes!!

So very quick cartooney sketch of myselt first.  Then closing eyes and attempt to duplicate.

Here are the results:

Oh I am laughing so much at this…

I think I remember coloring both pictures after the fact.  So only the black outlines were done with the eyes closed.  Let’s do that again before we compare past & present versions.

Okay! Interesting… Very interesting.  It seems my sightless drawing skills have not improved over the years at all… Forgot to draw one of my earrings too and for some reason I look angry!

I should do this test every year.

I laughed so hard when I opened my eyes and saw the tiny squished up face I drew for myself!  I encourage anyone to try this for themselves.

 

-MT