Fly 'em High
model – Gia
Tag Gia
New art completed today “Red:1 Wolf:0″
As noted in the previous post, I did finish it today. Yesterday was spent splattering blood all over the piece (although not once did I actually splatter, but rather painted each bit to simulate such). Having never savagely slaughtered a wolf with an axe, I cannot say whether the blood is accurate, both in design and in quantity, but I do feel it gets the point across without question. This is quite the diversion from my more typical cute cheesecake, but it’s nice to clear the mental palette from time to time.
Red:1 Wolf:0.
Red:1 Wolf:0
work progress – stage 3, blocking in the skin
I got pre-occupied yesterday morning, so I’m a day behind the blog. Monday I blocked in the skin using colored pencils and oil pastels. With the extra time in the evening, I nearly completed the detailing of the face, and the rest won’t need much detailing. I forgot to paint the toes in the shoes, but that’ll be a quick thing to do later…
The real fun is what comes next. I worked on that stage yesterday, and I think it’s completed now. With luck I’ll have it scanned and released this afternoon.
work progress – stage 2 – paint
Well, I made the mistake once again with using paint for a large solid area. Why my mind forgets the previous troubles, I don’t know, but I didn’t remember that the reds I have are translucent until I started mixing them on the palette. Not wanting to waste, I attempted to make due, and of course it was a disaster. I managed to get the entire cloak covered, but attempts to add shading and detail were pointless (not only is it translucent, but easily pulls up from the board). I took a break from that for a while I concentrated on the face and hair, something I feel confident doing with paint. Since so little skin will really show in the end, I considered painting the skin instead of using oil pastels, which is why the face is so solid. With that done, I painted the axe, then added a few bits of under-painting to the foreground snow. All that remained now was the dreaded cloak. I attempted to shade it using colored pencils, but they couldn’t get a decent texture or look that I wanted. Thinking it through, I decided to hit the old oil paints, something I don’t do very often at all. These oils are unique in that they don’t dry unless high heat is applied. The down side is they are difficult to get to a workable consistency. Soft brushes don’t seem to work well at all, and stiff brushes (at least the ones I have) aren’t easy to use for detailing. For the cloak though, I figured I could make it work. I mixed red, orange and some white and began covering the old mess. The paper isn’t ideal for this paint, so getting smooth clean lines was a trick, but I got through it. Once covered, I was able to mix in darker tones and highlights and blend them easily. Soon, it was done, I hit it with heat and is now dry and solid. It does have a slight sheen to it, so the photo flash does pick that up, but under house lighting, it’s not noticeable.
One trouble I had after that was I could no longer paint the hair over the cloak using gouache as I would normally. Water paint just beads up, so the hair is painted with the oil paint as well. The panties and shoes were painted with gouache as usual, though. And since I couldn’t get a clean edge on the cloak by the skin, painting the skin is no longer an option, but I’m okay with the oil pastels anyway…
work progress – stage 1, the background
Yesterday I masked out the image and began work on the background. First, I airbrushed it overall with a very light gray, darkening it toward the top. Then I used brushes to paint the forest, starting with a medium bristle and a dark gray-green gouache paint to scrub in the far trees. Next, I painted in a few hints of trunks and branches with the same paint, adding black and ultramarine. Then I mixed a gray-brown and painted the foreground tree and a few near little trees/branches. I also used this color with a near-dry brush for the grass sticking through the snow. With that all dry, I came back with a the bristle brush, this time using a thick white, scrubbing in the snow on the trees and branches. With all the brushwork done, I used the airbrush once again to soften and push it back into a haze using a medium gray acrylic…
New design ready
Ever since I saw the first poster for the Red Riding Hood movie, I had an idea in the back of my mind. A month or so ago I had a shoot with model Gia, and I explained it to her, and she was on board to shoot it. Sadly, when I finally saw the trailer for the movie, I lost interest in that, but my idea was already in motion. The pose was great, didn’t have much work to do to it at all; the wardrobe worked, so it too was ready, so all that remained was a background. That proved tricky for me; the image in my mind was definitely a wintery forest, but when I attempted to draw what I saw, I lost the actual details. Since I no longer live in a snow-filled area (thankfully), I couldn’t go out and find reference with ease. Searching online only confused what I was trying to see, but after taking some time away from the search and working on other paintings, I now see a better version, one that is clear to my mind.
With the design complete then, I drew it on a board yesterday…
model – Gia
New art today – “Feel the Heat”
Yesterday I spent the whole day working on details and filling out the medium tones. I ended up turning off the spotlight of my work area and used only overhead room light so that my eyes/mind could better understand the values. After all that, I no longer have any perspective on what looks right for this piece. The imagery in my mind is smooth and near-photographic, which is why I’m drawn to the oil pastels and smooth papers/boards. But when doing a pencil piece, it’s much more difficult to get to that level of gradation, and I’m not sure it’s best to try for that. By leaving texture, it feels more ‘art’, perhaps more personal, but it’s not a style I enjoy. So, I’m split on which way I want to go.
I don’t know that I will ever be happy with this piece, but I do feel it is complete as is. So, I scan it this morning and more trouble befalls me. The high contrast in this piece played havoc with the scanner (I had no idea it did any kind of adjustments on it’s own, as I have all tools turned off). Some scans are light and lose color, others are dark and dense, losing detail in the dark mid-tones. I did the best I could to find a happy medium and best represented the original, and it’s now on the website here. I would really like feedback on this, let me know if the texture is appealing or distracting.
Feel the Heat
work progress – past few days’ catch-up
I’ve been quite involved with this piece for the last two days, so haven’t thought to post, but at least shot a couple pics along the way.
With the background airbrushed satisfactory, I drew the image with a medium gray colored pencil (standard graphite might mix too much into the colors later, and likely wouldn’t show enough). I then began working from top to bottom, left to right in general. The hat was a good start, as it has a bright white highlight, as well as a black trim (or whatever that ribbon might be called). That helps establish the values, although the black was very limited. When working the face, I stayed a bit dark, as it’s easier to build up lighter than to darken again. By the end of the day, I had only gotten this far…
model – Gia
With white backgrounds, I usually rip right through a pencil piece in no time (for good or bad of it), but working on dark challenges my perspective on values and color. Not helping is that the original design as very dark, so understanding what the skin tones actually are is more difficult (at least for me). Yesterday, I continued forward, and by days’ end I had everything ‘blocked in’. All the detail is technically there, but now I need to reassess those values and colors, finding all those subtle mid-tones that are hiding within. To further push the value spectrum, I used some white and black gouache on the strongest highs and lows. The photo is awful, as the pencils have a sheen that’s picked up by the flash, altering the look quite a bit. As with every piece, the final image will be scanned and will show it as it truly looks…
