Eclipse

I've started the background.  You may ask yourself, "come on!  How long does it take to colour a piece of paper a solid blue."  Well when you're "scumbling" it takes about 2-3 hours per layer.  You draw in wee, itty bitty little circles.  I go clockwise with my left hand and counterclockwise with my right.  It gives it that uneven, sponged look.  The more layers I add the more smooth it will appear, but I think I like it looking a bit choppy like it is.

I still have to work on the hands and then I'm tout fini!

I took kids 1 thru 4 to see "Eclipse" bright and early this morning.  We got there an hour before the show and there was a fair sized line up already.  Of course there weren't many teens in that crowd as everybody knows teens don't arise from their own crypts until well after lunch.  Mine did because there was no way I was going to stand in line for a few hours in the pm to see a movie. 

Oddly enough, most of the patrons that filled the theatre, and I mean filled it, were people aged 35 and up.....well, women 35 and up.  Some had Twilight t-shirts on even.  They didn't even bother to bring kids with them to make it look like they were going only for the kids and not for them like I saw in some cases.  Uhummm....not that that's the case with me or anything.  Okay, maybe it was, so sue me.  I like the books.  I like the movies.  I want to be a teenager again.  Only wealthy with my current knowledge base and not have to live back with my parents.  (No offense Mom and Dad but you cramp my style and I don't want a curfew again.)

Anyhow, now I can't wait for the next one to come out.

Expressive Figure Painting ~ Done

The painting classes are done for the semester and although I still have a wee bit of work to complete on this one I can do the rest without the model.  The model liked the work and asked to photograph it and asked if she could post it on her facebook page.  It got me thinking about if it were me in her place would I post it on my blog ?(since I don't do facebook)  Ummmm, NO!  I don't think I'd want everyone seeing me nude.  She's a brave lady.

I asked her if she wanted it and she does so it will have a good home when it's complete as I don't see it hanging on my livingroom wall.  She's such a lovely lady I was happy offer.  She told me no one had ever offered her the art before.  My other two nudes from class (the paintings, not the models) are behind the freezer in my basement.  I suspect from talking to other artists that most art done of nudes end up in basements all over the city.  I'd prefer to get it out there somewhere.  Wouldn't it be funny though if she just put it in her basement?  I suspect that won't happen as she is quite proud of her job and I'm sure she'll want to show it off.  One of the other artists was quite taken with it and also wanted to photograph it so I let him.  Made me feel like a rock star;-)

Hot Chocolate should recognise this model.  He has a chalk version of her from the class he attended with me last semester.

One in the Hand

Click to biggify

Time to start something new.  I feel a great need for colour right now and to practise working in something other than flesh tones.

Off to the right is the start of my palette.  It's not a comprehensive guide and will grow as I "feel" out what colours I'll need.  I put down a basic colour or two and then compare it to the photo.  I adjust as needed multiple times and thus accounting for the various layers in the finished work.

Example:  the arm was started with a light layer of cream then deco pink on that then light peach.  It looked too peachy so another layer of pink.  Then it looked like it was more purple in the picture so I added a layer of greyed lavender.  Then it needed more pink in some spots and peach in others and a cloud blue in the dips in the flesh.  You keep building on the previous layers as they are transparent and show through until you hit just the right value, tone and hue.  I can do this more easily with coloured pencil but paints are definitely a work in progress!  Now this fellow is a chanllenge and may make my eyes go buggy so I suspect he will be worked in small parts divided up by many, many breaks.