"The Soloist" 16x20 Oil Sold
I was beginning to think (and you may have, too) that I may never blog again. There always seem to be so much out there to do, that I feel like writing a blog can be a complete waste of time.....but I do miss communicating on some small level. So here I am...yet again....playing catching up. To all you regular bloggers I have much admiration for you!
There has been lots going on (isn't there always)...so I will try to play "catchup post" from where I left off and go on from there. I believe I mentioned a step by step portrait? This piece was part of a series of musicians for a collector....nine in all. This was to be the central painting with 8 surrounding pieces. I am as we speak on the last one.
We as artists know that commissions are a strong source of revenue and a valuable tool to our learning. They can have a downside though...don't get me wrong I am extremely grateful and could not survive without them....but they can dull you somewhat creatively. Mostly because you are painting another persons vision and not yours. Fortunately my collector is patient and gives me lots of creative room. So on the whole I have learned an awful lot! It has been a very rewarding experience!
Some of the things I learned:
The value of doing many images of a similar subject.
Planning small canvases to their maximum and how to devise a series that will hang together.
Color and paint application. A constant learning process!
Work ethic and timely response. (I don't really have a work ethic problem....but staying on top of an assignment does take planning.)
The sheer value of just working.
Not seeing the image as a face, violin, trumpet, etc. but shapes of color, value and paint application.
How much more I need to learn!
Below is the Demo for "The Soloist"
The beginning....a quick pencil sketch secured with hairspray.
I don't like to get too detailed with drawing...and many times I just begin with paint.
Because of the violin, hand and face I chose to do some drawing.
Close up of the face and beginning with thin paint and various colors.
Skin has many colors in it....look and you will see green, blue or purple among others in the flesh tones. Trying to keep edges in the face soft.
Some more work and laying in broader shapes and background.
Continuing to work on the face and the areas around it.
The hands and violin started...checking the accuracy of the perspective of the violin.
The collar is done the face is 90% done.
Almost there!.....the jacket is finished , the bow needs some fine
tuning and the neck of the violin needs to be finished. Also the hand needs refining
and a tiny bit of work on the head with glazing and paint application.
Voila! The finished piece. Details worked out on the violin such as strings, keys, frog and moldings, glazing and some more tweaking on the face and hands!
Thank you to everyone that continues to sign
to my blog, support me via Facebook and my website,
Sincerely,
Theresa
10 comments:
So glad to see this beautiful painting and your description of how
it progressed. I was just talking about you the other day, and about how I miss your laugh. And here you are, like magic. I hope you'll continue now, whenever you have time.
Welcome back.
XOBarbara
Hi Theresa!
So nice to hear from you. Your painting is gorgeous, thank you so much for posting the different pics of progression. That is a big help to newbies like me!!
Carry on with your terrific work and drop a line when you get a minute. Take Care, Leslie Newman
While I totally understand the reasons you haven't been blogging, I miss seeing your amazing work. Thanks for taking a bit of time to explain your process and share your work.
Congrats on all of them... It would be nice to somehow see them as a "set".
Barbara...thank you! You have got to be one of the most encouraging people I have ever met. You are always first to respond and always know the right thing to say! I could hear you talking about me....:) Naw...I'm just psychic!! LOL!
Hi Leslie...thank you and I am always glad when something can help or inspire someone!! I will try to keep up!
Hello Marian....and thank you so much for the encouraging words. I am glad you enjoyed the process. I will be visiting my collector to see the wall and some other business...so will definitely grab a pic!! Other than there will be a post with the entire set of images on it!
Beautiful!
Loved the paintings displayed in next post too
Your work is beautiful. I wanted to leave you this comment to request permission to utilize your work on my website: http://www.tiffanymadison.com. Your painting clicked with me as an author and I would appreciate the opportunity to share such a beautiful piece with my readers.
I utilized it as the featured image for my short story "Finger Foods", which you can see here: http://www.tiffanymadison.com/?p=126
Of course, I attributed it back here. Please let me know if you do not wish for me to do so and I will remove it. Best of luck. Again, your work is divine.
Best,
Tiffany Madison
Tiffany I am honored and thank you so much for your admiration. Yes, of course you may use it....and thank you for referring back to me. I read your story....I love it!! You are a very expressive writer!
Your pieces are beautiful, do you always work in oil? or do you play around with different media? I really enjoy oil but lately I have been playing around with acrylics and am missing my oil paints! You said that you secure your sketch with hairspray, why is that?
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