Today I worked on all the details – the face, hands in oil pastels, then the headdress and sari trim details in gouache. It’s completed, and now available here.
Tag goddess
New Art finished – ‘Lakshmi’
work progress – roughing in the skin
Today went quite smoothly. I masked out all the skin areas to keep everything clean, then blocked in all the skin areas, first with colored pencils, then oil pastels to blend.
Once everything was covered, I began working on details in the face using colored pencils. It still needs more, but it’s a start. I should finish tomorrow…
work progress – paintwork
Yesterday morning I masked and airbrushed the background using a mix of yellow, orange and burnt sienna acrylics…
Once dry, I re-masked to cover all but the sari, which I then airbrushed with a mix of crimson red, vermilion, and white. Then I removed all masking and began painting. I added fold details to the sari with gray and red gouache. I painted the trim with a variety of ochre and yellow gouaches, followed by yellow acrylic for the design. Next, I painted the face and hair with gouache, followed by the rough in of the head piece. I then began painting the lotus flowers, first the small ones in the hands, then the big one below.
All of this went quite smoothly, but then I started to use some white acrylic for highlights in the eyes and to paint in the earrings, and trouble began. I needed it opaque, so I had to keep it somewhat thick, and consequently it was difficult to control. This strikes me strange, since I’ve been painting longer than I have been working with oil pastels, so I would think something so simple would be second nature to me. Maybe the brushes need replacing, or my mind is losing the techniques I once knew…I don’t know. In any case, it proved frustrating, so I gave up a bit early last night (thus why the blog is today, not then). Luckily nothing was harmed, so when I came back to it today, I could continue without trouble. I added a bit more to the big lotus, and then applied the textured gesso to the skin areas, making it ready for the next step – pencils and pastels…
New concept designed and drawn
Still uncertain what direction to go for the next painting, yesterday morning I decided to research and the Hindu Goddess. It came together surprisingly fast, but I wasn’t positive I wanted to go with it yet. So, I bounced back and forth between it and the vampire nurse idea the rest of the day and part of today.
I feel both are about ready now, and still undecided, I went ahead and drew them both on boards. Now that I could see them at full scale, I feel the goddess is what I will do now. So, here it is, drawn…
model – Kneely
Based on Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth and prosperity.
